The Democratic Alliance’s 2,000 delegates voted until 5pm on Saturday for the party’s new leader.
Interim DA leader John Steenhuisen addressing party delegates on 31 October 2020 at the DA’s virtual federal congress. Picture: @Our_DA/Twitter
JOHANNESBURG – The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Sunday afternoon is expected to announce a new set of leaders to take the party forward.
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Some pundits have described this as an opportunity to press the reset button following a tumultuous period, which also saw the DA lose its leader when Mmusi Maimane resigned in October 2019.
While numerous positions are being contested at the party’s virtual federal congress, the federal leadership position has drawn the most attention with interim leader John Steenhuisen going head to head with former youth leader Mbali Ntuli.
The party’s 2,000 delegates voted until 5pm on Saturday.
While a virtual conference removes the buzz that is usually associated with conferences, the DA got on with the programme of the day which saw delegates voting for new leadership and dealing with constitutional amendments.
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Two proposals brought by Ntuli caught the attention of many, with those in support of Steenhuisen saying their rejection was a sign of what could happen on Sunday.
An insider told Eyewitness News the margins against her proposals for a deputy federal leader and chief whip to be removed from the national management committee shocked some of Ntuli’s supporters. A claim some deny saying the 61% and 75% against her propositions were not a determining factor.
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Meanwhile, some in Steenhuisen’s camp took a favourable view of the outcomes of those constitutional amendments, saying it was an interesting sign of how the rest of the conference could play out.
One of those close to the interim leader admitted that Ntuli already performed better than many of them expected.
The DA was expected to announce new leadership at 2pm.
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