The new leader of South Africa's second-largest party, the Democratic Alliance, said on Monday that he would recast it beyond its white-voter base.

Geordin Hill-Lewis was elected head of the DA at the weekend ahead of local polls expected in less than a year.

He replaces John Steenhuisen, who announced in February that he would not run for a third term of the party's leadership.

"I really want to focus the party on communicating and most importantly demonstrating that we genuinely care about the advancement of every South African, regardless of the circumstances of their birth," he said.

Racial silos 'cracking and breaking': Hill-Lewis

"For a long time, the kind of racial silos in South Africa have been very firm and concrete but they are cracking and breaking down," he said, adding that voters are gravitating toward those who deliver results.

Winning broader support will be hard, Hill-Lewis warned.

"It is not about overnight success. It is about steady one foot in front of the other in the right direction," he said.

South Africa is currently led by a 10-party coalition, including the DA, after the largest party African National Congress (ANC) lost its 30-year majority in the 2024 national elections.

Power-sharing

The DA holds six cabinet positions compared to 20 for the ANC.

Formed in 2000 as a merger of three mostly white parties, the DA, which runs on a liberal, free-market agenda, has struggled to stave off its white, middle-class identity and win over black voters.

Hill-Lewis said the party would not abandon its opposition to contentious issues such as Black economic empowerment, national health insurance and social grants – long-running flashpoints in South African politics.

"That is the first hurdle we have to overcome. We have to make it clear to black South Africans that we are genuinely invested in and care about their advancement, but we do not support the current model of elite enrichment," Hill-Lewis said.

Mayor in his 30s

White South Africans account for a little more than 7% of the country's 63‑million people.

In 2021, 39-year-old Hill-Lewis became the mayor of Cape Town, a leading tourist destination in South Africa.