Cape Town mayor elected to lead S.Africa's second-largest party

"I am not satisfied being a junior partner in a coalition government," Hill-Lewis said after his widely expected victory was announced. 

"Our ambition must be to lead the national government. That is the next chapter that all of us must write together."

The liberal DA holds six cabinet positions, compared to 20 for the ANC, in a tense unity government that has been credited with restoring some confidence in South Africa after years of crippling corruption and mismanagement.

It also runs the Western Cape province and its capital city, Cape Town, seen as among the better-managed municipalities with many others -- including the economic hub of Johannesburg -- failing to provide reliable basic services such as water and power.

The government of national unity "is a complex and a fraught thing", said Hill-Lewis who has run Cape Town -- a booming international tourist destination -- since 2021. 

But, "It exists because people want cooperation, not chaos," he said.

The ANC was forced to seek coalition partners after it managed only 40 percent of votes at the 2024 elections, a drop from 62 percent at the first-all race vote that ended white minority rule in 1994.

The DA took 22 percent in 2024 and recent polling by the Ipsos market researcher showed a similar level of support ahead of local government polls due between November and January.

The ANC remained the most-supported party with 38 percent, according to the Ipsos survey of 3,600 people released last month.

The party of Nelson Mandela holds its own leadership conference next year ahead of the 2029 general elections. No clear replacement to President Cyril Ramaphosa has emerged.

- 'Largest party' -

Hill-Lewis, the DA's likely presidential contender, said his mission was to grow the party into the largest in South Africa.

Among the country's many crises, his priority was to end lawlessness and crime. 

"We must take back our streets," he said. "We must restore faith in our criminal justice system."

Africa's most industrialised nation has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with an average of more than 60 people killed each day, according to police data.

An unemployment rate of around 31 percent is among the most pressing concerns of the population of 63 million, followed by illegal immigration and corruption, according to a recent survey.

Veteran DA activist and leader, Helen Zille, is the party's candidate for mayor of Johannesburg at the upcoming polls, launching a cheeky campaign that has seen her plunging into some of the city's enormous water-filled potholes. 

Addressing the congress on Saturday, she rejected criticism of the racial make-up of the party whose outgoing leader, John Steenhuisen, was also white.

"We are the party of inclusion not division. We call ourselves the blue people, not black, not white, not brown." 

"Now we are on course to become the largest party in South Africa's metros at the end of the year. From there we move to the next milestone: becoming South Africa's biggest party," she said.

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