{"id":294929,"date":"2026-04-12T13:47:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T11:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/hill-lewis-elected-da-leader-as-new-leadership-team-unveiled\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T14:03:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T12:03:43","slug":"hill-lewis-elected-da-leader-as-new-leadership-team-unveiled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/hill-lewis-elected-da-leader-as-new-leadership-team-unveiled\/","title":{"rendered":"Hill-Lewis elected DA leader as new leadership team unveiled"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>MIDRAND &#8211; <\/strong>The Democratic Alliance (DA) has announced a sweeping new leadership line-up\u00a0on\u00a0the last day of its federal congress in Midrand, marking the end of John Steenhuisen&#8217;s tenure and the start of a new chapter for the party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Geordin Hill-Lewis, the mayor of Cape Town, was elected as the party&#8217;s new federal leader today (12 April), succeeding Steenhuisen (current national minister of agriculture) after his decision not to stand for a third term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-new-top-leadership\">New top leadership<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In another closely watched race, Solly Msimanga (DA leader in Gauteng), was elected as the party\u2019s new federal chairperson, defeating Dr. Ivan Meyer, the Western Cape minister of agriculture, economic development and tourism, who had been widely seen as the frontrunner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-x\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\udde6\ud83d\udc99 A historic moment!<br><br>The DA has officially elected the new Federal Leader. Delegates have spoken, and Geordin Hill-Lewis is ready to drive our mission of Getting South Africa Working. Where the DA governs, services are delivered.<br><br>Let\u2019s get to work, SA!<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/DAcongress2026?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DAcongress2026<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/r0V3WshMEd\">pic.twitter.com\/r0V3WshMEd<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Our_DA\/status\/2043286251390767250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 12, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Msimanga takes over from Helen Zille, who steps down from the influential position after several terms. Zille is also standing as the party&#8217;s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg in the 2026 local government elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The party also announced Ashor Sarupen (national deputy minister of finance) as the new chairperson of the federal council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-deputy-roles-filled\">Deputy roles filled<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Three federal deputy chairpersons were elected, namely Solly Malatsi (national minister of communications and digital technologies), Cilliers Brink (Tshwane mayoral candidate) and Siviwe Gwarube (national minister of basic education).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"577\" data-attachment-id=\"294931\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/hill-lewis-elected-da-leader-as-new-leadership-team-unveiled\/641430566_1470534084434679_7662409919619643827_n\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/641430566_1470534084434679_7662409919619643827_n.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1153\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"641430566_1470534084434679_7662409919619643827_n\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/641430566_1470534084434679_7662409919619643827_n-1024x577.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/641430566_1470534084434679_7662409919619643827_n-1024x577.jpg\" alt=\"Solly Msimanga\" class=\"wp-image-294931\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/641430566_1470534084434679_7662409919619643827_n-1024x577.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/641430566_1470534084434679_7662409919619643827_n-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/641430566_1470534084434679_7662409919619643827_n-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/641430566_1470534084434679_7662409919619643827_n-1320x743.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/641430566_1470534084434679_7662409919619643827_n-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/641430566_1470534084434679_7662409919619643827_n.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><sup>Solly Msimanga (DA leader in Gauteng), was elected as the party\u2019s new federal chairperson. Photo: Solly Msimanga\/ Facebook<\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>At federal council level, Carl Pophaim and JP Smith &#8211; both mayoral committee members in the City of Cape Town &#8211; were elected as deputy chairpersons alongside Thomas Walters, who was re-elected to the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-also-read-da-congress-marks-end-of-steenhuisen-era-new-leader-imminent\">ALSO READ: <a href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/da-congress-marks-end-of-steenhuisen-era-new-leader-imminent\/\">DA congress marks end of Steenhuisen era, new leader imminent<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, Mark Burke (member of parliament) was named as the party&#8217;s new federal finance chairperson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-new-phase-for-the-da\">A new phase for the DA<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>These announcements bring to a close a pivotal federal congress that began on Saturday (11 April) with reflections on the party&#8217;s growth and its role in national government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a new leader at the helm and a refreshed leadership collective in place, the DA is expected to focus on consolidating its position within South Africa&#8217;s Government of National Unity (GNU) while preparing for the 2026 local government elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?height=314&#038;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FDemocraticAlliance%2Fvideos%2F931641503050263%2F&#038;show_text=false&#038;width=560&#038;t=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowFullScreen=\"true\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>The newly elected leadership represents a mix of national, provincial and local government figures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Geordin Hill-Lewis elected DA leader as party unveils new leadership team, marking major transition following federal congress in Midrand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":294932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"68","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"60","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"3","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"1","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[],"_y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This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hill-Lewis elected DA leader as new leadership team unveiled | Komani Karoo Express<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Democratic Alliance announces a new leadership line-up, marking a new chapter led by Geordin Hill-Lewis as federal leader.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/hill-lewis-elected-da-leader-as-new-leadership-team-unveiled\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hill-Lewis elected DA leader as new leadership team unveiled\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Democratic Alliance announces a new leadership line-up, marking a new chapter led by Geordin Hill-Lewis as federal leader.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/hill-lewis-elected-da-leader-as-new-leadership-team-unveiled\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Komani Karoo Express\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KomaniKarooExpress\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-12T11:47:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-12T12:03:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/komani-karoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/669784908_1297384559246493_3467691039521253037_n.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1068\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Novus Media\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" 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