DA leader John Steenhuisen. (Photo: Waldo Swiegers / Bloomberg via Getty Images) 
‘I have absolutely no intention of standing against him as long as he wants to stand,” said Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis as he addressed speculation that he would step up to contest the leadership of the DA against incumbent John Steenhuisen.
For weeks, there have been rumours and speculation that Hill-Lewis would be the likely candidate to go against current leader Steenhuisen, the country’s Agriculture Minister within the Government of National Unity (GNU).
DA leader John Steenhuisen. (Photo: Waldo Swiegers / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The speculation began at the beginning of the year, with commentators such as Adriaan Basson of News24 nominating Hill-Lewis as a “serious” contender to succeed Steenhuisen.
Addressing the Cape Town Press Club on Thursday, 23 January, Hill-Lewis referred to the speculation, saying, “I love this job and I’m not seeking another job”. When pressed by journalists about his future and that of his party, Hill-Lewis said he loved his current role as mayor and described it as “extremely fulfilling”.
In the same vein, he said: “I’m not ruling it out for the future,” and said the question had not arisen because “there’s no conference anytime soon”.
In a statement on Thursday, DA federal chairperson Dr Ivan Meyer confirmed the party’s next federal congress would be held in April 2026.
Hill-Lewis said: “There is a leader who has my full support… John has my full support and so the question doesn’t arise for now.”
He added that he was happy and “keen” to serve another term as mayor of Cape Town. Hill-Lewis’s term will end in 2026 as the country contests municipal elections.
Hill-Lewis said: “I am personally very loyal to John… He’s a dear friend of mine and I have absolutely no intention of standing against him as long as he wants to stand.”
He said there was “no universe” in which that was possible.
Hill-Lewis is the DA’s deputy leader in the Western Cape, a role he was elected to unopposed in November 2023.
The noise over the DA’s leadership and possible suggestions of an early congress – which has been doing the rounds on social media – led to the release of Meyer’s statement on Thursday.
“I wish to address misguided speculation regarding a possible early Elective Congress for the purpose of electing new leadership before the expiry of the current three-year term,” Meyer said.
The next elective conference, Meyer said, was “scheduled on the DA calendar for April 2026”.
“Media speculation suggesting otherwise has no foundation in any decision-making structure of the party… I am determined to implement the provisions of the federal constitution and end media speculation about an early Federal Congress,” said Meyer.
GNU ‘will survive until ANC elective conference’
Speaking of party conferences, when Hill-Lewis was asked about the stability of the GNU, he said his gut said the GNU would “survive at least the next two years… the reason for that is that in two years’ time, at the end of 2027, is the ANC’s next elective conference.”
Thus far, contestation within the GNU has been robust, particularly over controversial issues such as the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act, which due to infighting and differing views, was signed into law only at the end of December.
“I think that there is enough goodwill and commitment inside the GNU at the moment to at least see it through until then,” said Hill-Lewis, adding that “after that, I’m not prepared to make any firm prediction, all bets are off after that because so much depends on who is ascendant at that conference”.
At the December South African Communist Party (SACP) special congress – an alliance partner of the ANC – chairperson Blade Nzimande said “no one wanted” a GNU. Nzimande is the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation within the GNU.
Read more: ‘No-one wanted this’ – SACP’s Blade Nzimande on GNU as crucial congress begins
At the ANC’s recent birthday celebrations in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, SACP deputy national chair Thulas Nxesi said in his speech that “our ally is the ANC, not the DA”.
Earlier, Hill-Lewis told a full Press Club crowd that he believed the best course of action for the GNU was to “take a leaf from Cape Town’s book” and be “exacting in raising standards and expecting more of the state. Do not settle for the mediocrity that has become the accepted norm.” DM