Background
The Democratic Alliance held its previous elective conference in April 2023 where incumbent federal leader John Steenhuisen and Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille were re-elected to their posts, respectively. [5] [6] Steenhuisen led the party into the 2024 general election where the African National Congress lost its parliamentary majority and subsequently formed an unprecedented coalition with the latter. [7] DA members of parliament were given posts in president Cyril Ramaphosa's cabinet with Steenhuisen being appointed as the Minister of Agriculture. [8]
On 20 September 2025, Zille was announced as the party's mayoral candidate for the City of Johannesburg ahead of the 2026 South African municipal elections. [9]
In November 2025, Steenhuisen requested that the DA federal finance chairperson Dion George be removed as the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment which led to a public fallout between George and Steenhuisen and resulted in George accusing Steenhuisen of abusing his party-issued credit card. [10] [11]
The DA subsequently launched an investigation into the fallout between Steenhuisen and George. [12] On 12 January 2026, the party's Federal Legal Commission cleared Steenhuisen on the allegations that he abused his party-issued credit card, but the party's Federal Executive did resolve to continue an investigations into whether the actions of Steenhuisen and George brought the party into disrepute. [13] George resigned from the DA on 15 January 2026. [14]
On 21 January 2026, Zille announced that she would not seek re-election as federal council chair at the party's congress. [3] Steenhuisen announced during a press conference on 4 February 2026 that he would not seek re-election to another term, despite having declared that he would do so earlier. [15] Steenhuisen was under pressure for his handling of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in South Africa [16] and had reportedly fallen out with Zille, however, Zille and Steenhuisen have denied this. [17] [18]
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