DA Federal Congress: Hill-Lewis and Dyonase ready for leadership battle

The two candidates vying to become the Democratic Alliance's (DA) next federal leader have delivered their final stump speeches to the party’s congress to rally supporters to vote for them on Sunday.

While not as well-known as Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, Sedibeng councillor Sibusiso Dyonase told the more than 2100 delegates that the election is not a popularity contest.

Hill-Lewis, meanwhile, told the cheering crowd that the DA is not a party that is built around a single personality.

He also told Congress delegates that in casting their vote, they are not being asked to unite behind a personality but rather a mission.

Under his leadership, Hill-Lewis says that the mission, set by his predecessors, to grow the party to the country’s biggest by 2029 will remain unchanged.

To do this, he says the party must appeal to South Africans across the board.

"We must be the most hopeful option, the most credible option, the most serious option, and the most human option.”

But Dyonase was not intimidated by Hill-Lewis’ legacy in the party and says he should not be discounted because he may not be that well-known.

His mission, he says, will be to strengthen the party at the branch level and for the party to win an outright majority in all municipalities.

“We don’t have to perform theatrics to attract voters. We have to go out there and recognise the injustice of the past as a system that requires redress based on freedom, fairness, and open opportunity for all.”

Delegates will vote first thing on Saturday morning for John Steenhuisen’s successor.