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South Africa’s Main Opposition Elects Steenhuisen as New Leader

South Africa’s Main Opposition Elects Steenhuisen as New Leader

South Africa’s main opposition party elected John Steenhuisen as its new head on Sunday, ending a year-long leadership hiatus that ensued after Mmusi Maimane quit the post.

Steenhuisen, 44, served as the Democratic Alliance’s chief whip in parliament before taking over as caretaker leader when Maimane quit after the party shed support and became immersed in an internal power struggle. He defeated lawmaker Mbali Nthuli, a former DA youth leader, in an election held during an online conference.

Steenhuisen, who is White and secured the backing of most of the party’s top provincial leaders, concedes he may battle to draw votes from the predominantly Black electorate needed to pose a credible challenge to the ruling African National Congress. The DA has played down race-based redress in a nation still grappling with the legacy of apartheid and where White households on average earn five times more than their Black counterparts.

The party will now turn to preparing for series of council by-elections that will be held on Nov. 11 and serve as dry run for a nationwide municipal vote to be held next year.

The DA took control of Johannesburg, the economic hub, and Pretoria, the capital, and other towns away from the ANC in 2016 local-government elections -- a backlash against Jacob Zuma’s scandal-marred rule.

Cyril Ramaphosa replacing Zuma as ANC leader in December 2017 and as president two months later helped curb the decline in support for the ruling party, while the DA saw its share of the vote slip in last year’s national vote.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.