In a signal of where internal momentum is heading, DA Eastern Cape leader, Andrew Whitfield, has thrown his support behind Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis in the race for the party’s top leadership post.
Whitfield’s endorsement came as the DA’s Eastern Cape provincial congress kicked off in Gqeberha on Friday.
The congress, attended by about 300 delegates representing 18 constituencies, is being held at Impetus Church until Saturday.
Whitfield will return as provincial leader after being nominated unopposed.
Speaking on the sidelines of the congress, Whitfield praised Hill-Lewis’s track record as mayor of Cape Town.
“I have already endorsed Geordin Hill-Lewis as our future leader at the congress, and I am rooting for him and hoping he will come through,” Whitfield said.
“He is a conviction politician who understands what needs to be done.
“He is running a world-class city under difficult circumstances and delivering results.
“I believe he can deliver those same results for the DA.”
The DA will have its national congress in April.
The Gqeberha conference is being attended by other high-profile leaders in the DA, including Solly Msimanga, who also announced he will be running for federal chair.
Outgoing national leader John Steenhuisen will be delivering the keynote address on Saturday.
Whitfield said other leadership positions within the party were still to be discussed, but reiterated his support for Hill-Lewis.
“He has been a long-time colleague and friend and is someone who can get South Africa working,” he said.
“We want to conclude our provincial congress and get it behind us, and then have discussions about the Eastern Cape’s agenda and how that needs to find expression.
“It is time for the Eastern Cape to take its place at the table, and so we are having some discussions about that post this congress,” he said.
In his organisational report, provincial chair Yusuf Cassim presented the Eastern Cape as a growing and electorally resilient province for the DA, citing significant gains in membership, organisational reach and vote share since the last provincial congress three years ago.
Cassim, who was also nominated unopposed for a second term as provincial chair, told delegates the province had increased its membership five-fold following an aggressive recruitment drive.
“As of yesterday, we have 34,989 paid-up members in the province,” he said, adding that the party had successfully launched 269 branches during its AGM process in the lead-up to the congress.
“All of us in this room, and all those you represent in your constituencies, can be immensely proud of the campaign we ran in this province,” he said.
“Together we grew the DA’s vote in the Eastern Cape from 226,189 in 2021 on the PR ballot to 267,007 votes on the provincial ballot in 2024.
“We remain a province which has not lost a single DA ward during the last three years.
“We also came under threat in ward 34 in Nelson Mandela Bay and in ward 2 in Kouga, where we, as the champions that we are, successfully defended our wards,” he said.
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