I'd like to finish what I've started, says DA Steenhuisen about his future as leader

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8 hours ago

DA celebrates 25th anniversary, handing out blankets to pensioners in Hanover Park. DA leader John Steenhuisen joined Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and other party officials to celebrate by sharing their birthday cake with the residents of Hanover Cottages.
Image: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
DA leader John Steenhuisen once again played his cards close to the chest when asked about his future as the DA leader, saying the 2026 local government elections would be 'a very good ending point' for a particular leadership career.
'I inherited a party in 2019 from a leader who had walked off the job, leaving the party at 16% in the polls, with many declaring it the death of the DA,' said Steenhuisen.
'We've been able to turn the party around. It's now a party in the national government. I'd like to continue, I'd like to finish what I've started.'
'I'd like to lead the party into the local government elections, and I think the DA's best days are still ahead of it. What it needs now is strong leadership at the centre.'
He made the comments during the DA's 25th birthday celebration in Hanover Park at the old-age cottages on Tuesday.
DA Western Cape chairperson JP Smith and Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis were among senior members joining the celebration.
Steenhuisen said he would make a formal announcement about his intentions later this year. The DA is set to host its Elective Congress in April 2026.
On the DA's future, Steenhuisen said: 'I think the country has been well served by having the DA around for 25 years, whether in opposition or now in government. It's a far cry from where we were in 2019. We've been able to rebuild, regain, and extend, and that must continue.
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'All polling shows the DA is on the path to becoming the largest party in South Africa after the 2029 elections. I'm proud of what our team has achieved, and excited about the next 25 years.'
On the significance of the party's birthday, he announced a countrywide blanket drive for underprivileged communities.
'It is our way of saying thank you to the South Africans who've supported us, voted for us, and allowed us to be in a position where we can celebrate 25 years.
'We are doing this in a number of areas across the country. Hanover Park was prioritised because we know there are elderly people in this vicinity. We look forward to continuing the drive throughout June, where we will be visiting young people and more elderly residents.'
National Spokesperson of the Democratic Alliance, Willie Aucamp, offers a birthday cake to protesters outside the Hanover Park Cottages.
Image: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
While the celebrations continued inside the old-age home, a handful of National Coloured Congress (NCC) members protested outside.
One of them said: 'The children who are being shot in Mitchells Plain, but the law enforcement is here to protect white people, but when our people call the law enforcement, they will not come to the coloured people.
'What about the coloureds who are killed? The mayor is here handing out blankets, but our girls have no sanitary pads. They stay out of school, but the mayor won't do anything; he is worried about the blankets.'
Responding to criticism from the NCC members, Steenhuisen said: 'You've got to be some kind of special failure to come and disrupt a birthday party where people are handing out blankets to underprivileged people. Unlike those who are screaming, the DA is doing something about it.
'Although policing is a national competence, the City of Cape Town has a gang unit and a drug unit, and it is taking the fight directly to the criminals. These areas have one of the worst police-to-population ratios in the world, and that is why at the national level, we're fighting for greater resources for the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Cape Times