You may have noticed last week’s Real Politics column arrived on a Monday. That was no accident. From now on, Zukile Majova’s weekly column will land every Monday morning.
Geordin Hill-Lewis may have inherited the most important job in South African opposition politics, writes Zukile Majova in Real Politics.
The Cape Town mayor’s election as Federal Leader of the Democratic Alliance comes at a decisive moment for the party and the country. At 39, he could lead the DA through the next two election cycles, including the 4 November 2026 local government elections and the 2029 national election.
His challenge is easy to describe but hard to solve: how does the DA turn anger with the ANC into votes for itself?
For more than a decade, South Africa’s largest opposition party has been stuck in a narrow band. It won 22.2% of the national vote in 2014, 20.8% in 2019 and 21.8% in 2024. Over the same period, the ANC fell sharply from 57.5% in 2019 to just over 40% in 2024. On paper, this should have been the DA’s moment. In practice, it was not.
The ANC’s losses flowed elsewhere. The EFF built a national base. The MK Party surged in KwaZulu-Natal. The Patriotic Alliance grew in coloured communities. ActionSA appealed to urban voters who wanted change but were not ready to vote DA.
The lesson is uncomfortable. South Africans who are unhappy with the ANC do not automatically choose the DA.
This is the puzzle Hill-Lewis must solve.
For years, the DA believed good governance would eventually overcome voter scepticism. It built its brand around clean administration, infrastructure, financial discipline and fighting corruption. In Cape Town and the Western Cape, that approach has produced durable electoral success. But competence has not become broad national appeal.
Many voters respect DA-run governments while remaining reluctant to vote for the party. That suggests the main obstacle is not policy. It is identity, trust and belonging.
The DA still faces a perception problem among many black South Africans who do not see it as a party that naturally represents their interests. Whether fair or not, that remains one of its biggest barriers to growth.
Hill-Lewis enters this role aware of that reality — and aware that he personally embodies many of the qualities critics associate with the DA. He is white, English-speaking and from Cape Town. Those qualities have helped him as mayor. National politics demands more.
Modern voters want leaders who connect emotionally as well as intellectually. South Africa has repeatedly rewarded those who make voters feel seen. Nelson Mandela did it with grace and moral authority. Jacob Zuma did it through cultural fluency and accessibility. Gayton McKenzie has turned personality into political capital.
Hill-Lewis is respected for discipline, intelligence and administrative ability. To break the DA’s ceiling, he needs to become a different kind of political figure — as comfortable in Soweto, Umlazi and Mdantsane as in Cape Town’s suburbs and boardrooms. That is not about image management. It is about trust.
His recent visit to King Misuzulu kaZwelithini was therefore more than a courtesy call. It signalled an understanding that culture, identity and traditional leadership remain powerful forces in South African politics. KwaZulu-Natal will be among the fiercest electoral battlegrounds in the 2026 local government elections. The DA cannot grow there without building relationships with communities that look to traditional leaders for guidance.
The same applies to powerful religious institutions. Churches such as the ZCC, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa and the Nazareth Baptist Church command enormous influence in communities the DA wants to reach. Engagement with them should not be treated as theatre. It is a recognition of the social networks that shape public opinion.
Consistency will be the test. One visit to a king makes headlines. Building lasting relationships with traditional leaders, churches and rural voters is what persuades sceptics that the DA is serious about becoming a truly national party.
The second test is coalition politics.
Since the 2021 local government elections, the DA’s coalition record has been mixed. Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni became warnings rather than showcases. Mayors came and went. Alliances collapsed. Public trust in coalition governance weakened. Hill-Lewis may need a different coalition philosophy. The age of smaller parties simply falling in line behind a dominant partner is ending. Successful coalitions will require negotiation, patience and long-term relationship building.
The Government of National Unity has reinforced this lesson. Imperfect as it is, it has shown that voters and markets respond positively when rivals cooperate to provide stability.
The third challenge lies closer to home. The Patriotic Alliance has expanded among coloured voters, a constituency that formed part of the DA’s electoral backbone. Its growth may not immediately threaten DA control of Cape Town, but it has introduced a new competitive dynamic. Political dominance often erodes slowly before it collapses suddenly. Hill-Lewis cannot only chase new voters. He must defend existing support.
Ultimately, his success will not be measured by whether he protects the DA’s traditional 20% base. It will be measured by whether he expands it.
The path to 25% or 30% national support is unlikely to come from converting loyal ANC voters. It will come from younger voters, urban professionals, first-time voters and politically homeless South Africans who are dissatisfied with every major party. That requires a broader offer.
The DA has spent years explaining why the ANC is failing. Hill-Lewis must now explain why the DA understands the aspirations of a changing South Africa.
He has time, a Cape Town record and a long political runway. What remains uncertain is whether he can persuade dissatisfied voters that the DA is not just an alternative government, but a political home.
That question will shape his legacy — and South Africa’s political future.
Pictured above: Geordin Hill-Lewis.
Image source: @Our_DA
