ANTHONY BUTLER: Hill-Lewis and Sarupen — the dream team

April’s elective conference could usher in batch of younger DA leaders

February 06, 2026 at 05:00 am

First published in Business Day

The internal politics of the DA has suddenly become uncharacteristically interesting.

In the past, a variety of factors conspired to make it almost impossible to understand the party’s internal dynamics. Only party insiders could reliably recall the difference between the federal leader, the chair of the federal council, and the federal chair.

Even the select group sharing this secret knowledge disagreed about whether the federal leader or chair of the council — currently John Steenhuisen and Helen Zille, respectively — is the more influential figure.

A confluence of factors means delegates will elect new leaders to both key offices at the party’s conference in April. Zille is campaigning to be mayor of Joburg in local elections, which are expected later this year, and will probably not accept nomination to serve another term. For his part, Steenhuisen announced this week that he would stand down to spend more time on his ministerial portfolio.

In an era of coalition politics, the DA matters because it will probably be the largest or second-largest party for the next two or three national election cycles, potentially participating routinely in unity governments.

What makes matters more compelling is the spectre of a generational change. EFF generalissimo Julius Malema is 44 years old, in certain respects a terrible infant, but no longer the enfant terrible of South African politics.

Key contenders for key DA offices are deputy finance minister Ashor Sarupen, who is just 37, and sprightly Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, who is two years younger. Long shots such as communications minister Solly Malatsi and the leader of the opposition in Gauteng, Solly Msimang, are only a little older.

There has been lobbying in recent months for a Zille-aligned “dream team” of Hill-Lewis for the federal leadership and Sarupen for the federal council chair. An alternative candidate for federal leader would be Malatsi, who is a capable policymaker and is potentially more appealing than other candidates to younger black voters. However, Malatsi does not yet enjoy widespread support across the party’s base.

There is also Western Cape premier Alan Winde, who is undoubtedly a safe pair of hands but does not represent the exciting change of style and direction the party arguably needs.

Former leader Tony Leon, who has the ear of major party donors, notably endorsed Hill-Lewis very quickly.

Hill-Lewis does not want to cut short his term as a successful Cape Town mayor, but the DA could countenance combined national leadership and municipal office for a year or two — something Zille herself accomplished as leader after 2007, as both mayor and then as provincial premier.

The election to succeed Zille in the federal council is likely to be more competitive. Sarupen is well suited to a low-key interpretation of the federal role, with deep expertise in electoral campaigning and experience in the National Treasury.

The strongest contender he faces could be Dean Macpherson. He is just 40 but became shadow trade, industry & competition minister as early as 2017. He is closely associated with outgoing federal leader Steenhuisen, for whom he has served as campaign manager, and he was appointed public works & infrastructure minister in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government of national unity.

Addressing the Cape Town Press Club yesterday, he set out impressive achievements in the field of construction and infrastructure investment and detailed his apparently successful curtailing of the activities of the so-called construction mafia in KwaZulu-Natal and, more recently, across much of the rest of the country.

Macpherson declined to comment on whether he would accept nomination to the position of chair of the federal council, whether out of procedural propriety or genuine indecision. I for one interpreted his answer as a yes.

• Butler teaches public policy at the University of Cape Town.