Addressing delegates at the Federal Congress of the Democratic Alliance (DA) this past weekend, newly elected leader Geordin Hill-Lewis repeatedly returned to crime and public safety as the defining issue facing South Africa. “Law and order must be the first priority,” he said, adding that “without safety, nothing else is possible.”

He told delegates that the absence of safety undermines all other policy ambitions. “Without the rule of law, there can be no prosperity. Without the rule of law, there can be no jobs. Without the rule of law, there can be no dignity,” he said.

Hill-Lewis argued that restoring law and order is not one issue among many, but the foundation on which all others depend. “If we do not fix law and order first, we will not fix anything else,” he said. “It is the starting point for everything we want to achieve.”

He linked this directly to the daily experience of South Africans. “People do not feel safe in their homes, in their streets, in their communities,” he said. “That must change, and it must change first.”

The emphasis on crime ran throughout the speech, with Hill-Lewis positioning it as the central test of government effectiveness. “A government that cannot keep its people safe is failing in its most basic duty,” he said. “Our first duty is to protect.”

He said the DA’s approach would be rooted in enforcement and capability. “We must build a state that enforces the law, that backs the police, that ensures consequences for those who break the law,” he said. “We must restore the idea that the law applies to everyone.”

Hill-Lewis also tied law and order to economic outcomes. “When people are safe, businesses invest. When the law is enforced, jobs are created,” he said. “If we restore law and order, we restore the conditions for growth.”

Beyond crime, Hill-Lewis set out a broader political objective for the party, arguing that the DA must now position itself to win national power. “We are strong enough to win,” he said. “We must build a DA that can win a national election and form a government that works for all South Africans.”

He said achieving that goal would require expanding the party’s support base. “We cannot win with the support we have today,” he said. “We must grow and earn the trust of more South Africans.”

Hill-Lewis described the party’s development as a progression from opposition to governance. “We have come from being a party of principled opposition to a party that governs well where we are entrusted with power,” he said. “Now we must take the next step and become a party that can govern nationally.”

He pointed to the DA’s record in municipalities as evidence. “Where we govern, we show what is possible,” he said. “We show that a government can work, that it can deliver, that it can keep communities functioning.”

Returning to the theme of safety, Hill-Lewis closed by reiterating its centrality. “Nothing matters more than the safety of our people,” he said. “Law and order must come first.”