Sarupen, Horn Face Off In Battle For Powerful DA Position

Ashor Sarupen and Werner Horn are squaring off to become the next chair of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance (DA), succeeding Helen Zille.

The Federal Council is the party’s highest decision-making body between its federal congresses, which are held every three years.

The next is to be held next month, and this is where Horn and Sarupen will battle each other. Zille has held the post since 2019, when she succeeded James Selfe, who had held the post for nearly 20 years.

The post is roughly analogous to the position of secretary-general of the African National Congress and is a powerful one within the party.

The party will elect a new leader too, with Geordin Hill-Lewis, the Mayor of Cape Town, widely seen as the frontrunner to succeed John Steenhuisen.

Meanwhile a new federal chairperson will also be elected. Unlike the chair of the Federal Council, this position acts as a deputy to the party’s leader and also presides over federal congresses. Ivan Meyer is the current federal chairperson. Solly Msimanga, the leader of the DA in Gauteng, has announced his candidacy for that position.

Sarupen has been involved with the DA since he was a teenager, joining the party in 2006 as a 17-year-old in Springs, Ekurhuleni. He went on to be elected as a DA councillor in Ekurhuleni, before becoming a member of the Gauteng provincial legislature. He became an MP in 2019 before being appointed as deputy minister of finance following the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU).

He also serves as Zille’s deputy as chair of the Federal Council, along with two other deputies, Thomas Walters and Annelie Lotriet, a post to which he was first elected in 2020.

Werner Horn, like Sarupen, cut his teeth in local politics. He was elected as a DA councillor in Mangaung (Bloemfontein) in 2006, serving in that position until being elected to Parliament in 2014. He served in the shadow cabinets as a deputy under both Mmusi Maimane and Steenhuisen. He also served as the party’s national spokesperson in 2023 and 2024.

Following the formation of the GNU, Horn was elected as one of the three House Chairpersons in the National Assembly. House Chairpersons assist the Speaker and Deputy Speakers with their duties.

Insiders have told The Common Sense that while Sarupen is the frontrunner for the position, Horn could pose a serious challenge. Horn’s candidacy has also been pushed by some in the DA who are concerned that the party could be losing support among Afrikaners, especially following the poor handling of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak under outgoing leader Steenhuisen, who is also the minister of agriculture.

Last week The Common Sense’s editor Frans Cronje got it wrong and conflated the Federal Chair with the Chair of the Federal Council. We apologise for the error.