Hill-Lewis urges DA to win trust of new voters
Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has urged the DA to close the gap between the party and millions of South Africans who have never voted for it.
He announced his leadership bid and said many acknowledge the DA governs well, but feel disconnected.
Hill-Lewis admits the party can seem distant and overly critical.
He calls for rebuilding trust through listening, engaging communities, and earning support nationwide:
“Too often people, they feel that we speak at them, not with them. They feel that we are quicker to point out what is broken rather than showing how we will fix it. If we are going to grow, we must change. That trust is earned, not freely given.”
Current DA leader John Steenhuisen announced earlier this month that he would not run for a third term at party elections in April in a major shake-up ahead of local polls later this year.
Hill-Lewis, 39, became mayor of the touristy city in 2021, seen as among the better-managed municipalities in the country.
"Under my leadership, we will show, as we have shown here in Cape Town, that the DA governs well and governs for everyone," he said.
The pro-business DA -- credited with boosting confidence in South Africa when it joined the 10-party coalition following general elections in 2024 -- was rocked by a series of internal controversies over Steenhuisen's leadership.
Claiming to be polling at historically high levels, the DA is seeking to win over voters disillusioned with the poor performance of the African National Congress (ANC).
The ANC was forced into an uneasy coalition with the former opposition party after losing its 30-year majority in the 2024 national elections, accused of incompetent and corrupt governance.
But the DA, which runs on a liberal, free-market agenda, has long struggled to shake off an image of representing the white minority.
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