This weekend, the Democratic Alliance (DA) will convene its Federal Congress in Midrand, Johannesburg. The party will elect new leadership and decide on various policy matters. But it will also have to confront some fundamental questions about its own identity – and its future role in South Africa’s politics.

Follow the leader

Several leadership positions are up for grabs this weekend, and the DA is likely to oversee an orderly changing of the guard. The fact that John Steenhuisen declined to run for a third consecutive term as party leader speaks to the strength of the DA’s institutional culture – and his maturity as a leader.

One thing that separates the DA from other political parties is its adherence to its own internal rules and processes. This ensures that winners don’t take all the spoils and losers can live to fight another day.

Consequently, there will be none of the chair-throwing or bribery that regularly characterises leadership races in the African National Congress (ANC). Unlike ANC National Conferences, the DA Federal Congress will likely start and end on time. A small, but relevant detail.

Other parties, like the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), uMkhonto weSizwe Party, or ActionSA forgo leadership elections altogether. It is their prerogative to do so, but this speaks to the lack of depth and internal competition (as well as the cult of personality) within these organisations.

However, as a liberal organisation, the DA must also understand that while internal governance is important, the character and convictions of its leaders arguably matters more.

Personnel is policy. Who the party chooses to lead it will influence its trajectory for years to come. It must choose wisely.

Coalition dilemma

The DA’s decision to join the Government of National Unity (GNU) in June 2024 set the party on an entirely new trajectory. While it relished the opportunity to demonstrate the “DA difference” at the national level, the party’s performance in office has been mixed.

On the positive side of the ledger, Minister Leon Schreiber has reduced waiting times and introduced a more customer-centric approach at the Department of Home Affairs, while Deputy Minister of Finance Ashor Sarupen helped to deliver a balanced budget earlier this year.

On the other side of the ledger, John Steenhuisen, in his role as Minister of Agriculture, has insisted on a state-led response to the Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic, while picking entirely avoidable fights with civil society groups for raising legitimate concerns about his handling of the crisis. His conduct has alienated an important constituency for the party.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, has played down the risks of the Expropriation Act, which makes provision for expropriation of property for below market related compensation – a direct threat to private property rights.

More recently, the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi, has proposed regulating podcasts – hardly something you would expect from a minister representing a liberal party that was traditionally a strong defender of free speech.

Many more examples of the DA moving away from liberal policy – unprovoked – can be mentioned.

Coalition government is tricky. I get it. You can’t always get what you want and compromises must be made. But the point of being in a coalition is to represent the people who voted for you and, at the very least, to do no harm.

Geordin Hill-Lewis, the likely next leader of the DA, has stated his intention to remain Executive Mayor of Cape Town and to stay out of the cabinet himself. This will hopefully result in a healthier separation between the party leadership and DA cabinet ministers and may help to reset relations with other parties in the GNU.

However, the DA will also have to assess whether the GNU is still fit for purpose. The DA should not be helping an ailing liberation movement to implement its socialist policy agenda. The risk remains that the DA’s deployees to national government become coopted by simply “doing their jobs” and energetically implementing statist, interventionist policies.

Growth versus values

The DA’s preoccupation with growth is understandable. Which political party doesn’t want to increase its voter share?

But growth shouldn’t come at any cost. As the DA seeks to grow, the pressure for the party to loosen its ideological moorings will become even greater.

Large political parties tend to represent a broad cross-section of interests. But in a diverse and fractious society like South Africa, the more the DA tries to broaden its support, the less coherent – and cohesive – it will become. The ANC also struggles to maintain its unruly alliance of communists, unionists, traditionalists, and the urban black elite.

Recent developments in Cape Town illustrate the perils of growth. Geordin Hill-Lewis has proudly welcomed former Cape Town ANC leader Banele Majingo and EFF councillor Lungiswa Ntshuntshe into the DA.

Either these individuals had a Damascus Road conversion to liberalism, or they were indulging in a more cynical form of transactional politics. I doubt they have simply left their earlier ideological convictions at the front door. In fact, they may bring the race nationalism and Marxist-Leninism of their erstwhile parties into the DA with them.

Representation matters

The DA is often caricatured as a “white party”. More accurately, it represents the multiracial middle class – an important and legitimate constituency. Clearly defining – and defending – the interests of this constituency will become especially relevant as South African politics becomes more fragmented.

My colleague at the Free Market Foundation, Martin van Staden, will be attending this weekend’s Federal Congress as an observer. He has pointed out that the DA is one of the largest liberal parties in the world and should be proud of its almost 22% share of the national vote, as well as the provinces, cities, and towns where it governs.

This is real political power, Van Staden argues, and it can be leveraged effectively if wielded in the right way. Even being in opposition presents opportunities for the party, as it has demonstrated well in the past and still does to this day (e.g., in the metros and provincial legislatures of Gauteng).

Rather than trying to be everything to everyone, the DA needs to get real about its growth prospects and set its strategy accordingly.

Liberal convictions

Liberalism is a contested term. It means different things to different people.

Helen Zille – the outgoing Chair of the DA’s Federal Council and Johannesburg mayoral candidate in the upcoming local government elections – defines the DA’s liberal values in terms of its commitment to a social market economy, constitutionalism, non-racialism, and a capable state.

I would prefer to see the party dropping the “social” prefix and simply embracing the inherent benefits of a free market economy. Rather than a “capable” state, the DA should advocate for a limited state that seeks to get out of the way rather than interfere.

The DA’s recent criticism of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a welcome shot across the bow for non-racialism, but, as I have argued before, it can go even further by refusing to implement BEE where it governs. This comes with risk, but it will be a risk worth taking.

Together, these principles constitute the fundamental ingredients of a free and prosperous society. The folks in blue should stick to this blueprint openly and with conviction.

Ansara is CEO of the Free Market Foundation.