By Paul Vecchiatto and Mike Cohen.
The Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s second-biggest political party, remains “100%” committed to remaining in the ruling coalition, even though it isn’t functioning as intended, its new leader said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa established the so-called government of national unity after his party, the African National Congress (ANC), lost its parliamentary majority in 2024 for the first time since taking power at the end of apartheid three decades earlier. While the 10-member coalition’s focus on growing the economy has cheered investors and bolstered the nation’s assets, the ANC and DA have clashed over tax, land and education policy.
The GNU’s members signed a statement of intent under which they agreed to reach “sufficient consensus” on key decisions, but it isn’t being adhered to, Geordin Hill-Lewis, who was elected DA leader in April, said in an interview in Cape Town last week.
“There is no genuine policy debate and attempt to find compromise and give and take,” he said.
“Basically, the ANC continues to just barrel along, so we need to be able to have the freedom to say that we disagree with this, this is not a GNU position because you haven’t spoken to us about this, this is not a negotiated position or a compromised position.”
Hill-Lewis nonetheless views the coalition as South Africa’s best opportunity in years to revive an economy that has expanded by less than 1% a year on average for more than a decade. He warned that its collapse could push the ANC into an alliance with former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party or Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters, both of which advocate the nationalization of mines and banks.
“I think we have a moral responsibility to the country to try to prevent an EFF-MKP government,” he said. “That may not be possible, it may actually come to pass, but we should do everything possible to avoid it.”
Ramaphosa has repeatedly said the GNU is working well, telling lawmakers in his state-of-the-nation address in February that its formation showed “it is possible for South Africans to come together from across the political spectrum to work on a common agenda.’ The president noted that the nation’s economic outlook had improved, public debt had stabilized and the rand and stock markets had performed well since its inception.
Hill-Lewis said he is open to negotiating with whoever emerges as the ANC’s leader after the party’s internal elections late next year, even though the outcome remains unclear. Even so, he was sharply critical of the ANC, an indication that tensions persist between the two biggest parties despite public discord having been relatively muted for several months.
“They have no ideas for how to turn around the country, they have no fresh insights,” he said.
The DA leader is also irked that draft legislation which proposes that parties be required to reach a minimum threshold of votes to secure seats in municipal councils has stalled in parliament and is unlikely to be processed before Nov. 4 local-government elections. The measure would simplify the process of forming coalitions in towns where there isn’t an outright winner, and ensure smaller parties don’t wield outsize influence, as has happened in cities such as Johannesburg.
“It’s a source of frustration that it is taking this long” even though the main parties agree on the law in principle, he said. “I really can’t explain the delay.”
Hill-Lewis, 39, has served as the mayor of Cape Town since 2021, and intends to seek reelection in November, rather than joining the cabinet and placing himself in a position where he may have to show deference to the president.
“I’m going to work for the next three years to make sure that the DA is a stronger party and that the millions of voters who are disaffected with the ANC see us as a viable alternative political home,” he said. “I know that it’s extremely optimistic, but I’m going to work” for the DA to be the largest party after the 2029 national elections, he said.
The DA garnered 22% support in the 2024 vote and the ANC 40%.
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