Geordin Hill-Lewis, the newly elected leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), has said that the justification for the current war between Iran, Israel, and the United States was “dubious”.

He was speaking shortly after his election as DA leader to Bloomberg, a global financial news company.

He also said that the relationship between the African National Congress (ANC) and Iran was “ill considered”. Hill-Lewis said “the ANC has continued to operate as though it is basically in charge alone and can determine foreign policy on its own. Of course, that's not the case,” pointing out that the ANC was now part of a coalition government and no longer had a majority.

He continued, saying it “should be a proper partnership government, a two-way street, it has to be give-and-take”.

On the ongoing conflict in the Persian Gulf, Hill-Lewis said, “This war is not achieving anything meaningful or helpful for the world, putting a great deal in great peril… imperilling the global economy, causing terrible energy price rises.” He added that the war was “really of dubious justification”.

“We hope that the war draws to a very speedy conclusion,” he said.

In another interview shortly after his election, this time with Newzroom Afrika, Hill-Lewis laid out his views on the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement in the United States. He was asked: “Is the DA too careful to tell either Elon Musk or indeed the current Washington leadership to stop poking their noses in South Africa’s domestic policy?”

Hill-Lewis responded with a chuckle and said, “No, not at all. I'm no fan of MAGA and no fan of Mr Trump whatsoever. I think he's put the world in a very dangerous place and in many ways is quite reprehensible, actually. So I hold no candle whatsoever for that policy and that administration and [am] very happy to say so.”