Johannesburg – Newly elected Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has promised to put power back in the people’s hands.
In his acceptance speech delivered on Sunday after he won the race to lead the country’s main opposition, he said that he wanted to take both the DA and South Africa to greater heights and empower every citizen.
Around 2,000 of the party’s delegation gathered for a virtual elective conference over the weekend.
Helen Zille has also been re-elected as the party’s federal council chairperson.
Steenhuisen finally has his long-awaited mandate and wants to use it to set the DA on course and bring more South Africans into the party.
On Sunday, he told delegates that there was a period where the DA chased populist shortcuts, failed to provide clear solutions for some of the country’s problems and faltered in being a dependable ally of the people.
“And, for a while, we’ve lost sight of who we were and what we offer – clear principal and decisive leadership.”
But he said this did not have to be a fatal error as the party could learn from its mistakes.
While he warned that South Africa was in trouble, he said the DA could be its answer.
“They want a leg up from a caring and effective government, not handouts from the failing state.”
Steenhuisen closed off the conference by emphasising that the days of mix-messaging were over, promising that a DA government would give power to the people.
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