The party, considered to be South Africa's most diverse in terms of membership and voters, draws its support predominantly from Afrikaans and English speakers, people aged over 35, as well as white South Africans, Indian/Asian communities, and Coloured communities. Download Da Fit today and take the first step towards a healthier lifestyle. Get a complete overview of your body condition with detailed health metrics and trends. Monitor your sleep patterns and quality to ensure you wake up feeling refreshed every day. Track every movement with precision and get detailed insights into your daily activities. Download Da Fit today and connect your smartwatch for comprehensive health monitoring and tracking.

This formed the basis of the philosophy underlying the party's 2009 Election Manifesto, which seeks to build a society by linking outcomes to "opportunity, effort and ability". Former party leader Helen Zille has argued that this stands in direct contrast to the ruling ANC's approach to governance, which she maintains has led to a "closed, crony society for some". In June 2026, the party's head of policy and Member of Parliament Mathew Cuthbert was appointed the party's new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The party's Gauteng provincial leader Solly Msimanga was elected Federal Chairperson, the party's second-highest position, having defeated incumbent Ivan Meyer. On 4 February 2026, DA Leader John Steenhuisen announced that he would be stepping down from his party leadership role, to focus exclusively on his portfolio as Minister of Agriculture. The party retained control of the Western Cape but with a reduced majority and failed to win Gauteng once again.

Injuries reported from Dadyal; Mirpur and Bhimber witness peaceful protests; teargas used to disperse people at Muzaffarabad’s Airport Chowk.

Economy

Democratic Alliance leaders have been alleged by controversial news media IOL to be embroiled in a R1.2 billion tender fraud. Cabanac stated that he was the target of a successful smear campaign and that the comments in question were willfully taken out of context. In 2019, some commentators speculated that the resignation of the former party's leader, Mmusi Maimane, was a sign of "racial tensions in the party". White voters constitute the largest single demographic group within the party's support base at 43.4%, followed by Coloured voters at 19.6%, Black voters at 18%, and Indian voters at 8.9%. The DA's Young Leaders Programme (YLP) is a political leadership development programme for South Africans between the ages of 18 and 35. Between 2019 and 2021 it was led by Rory Jubber with Nigel Bruce acting as chairperson.

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• The party has also governed the Western Cape, one of the country's nine provinces, with a majority since the 2009 general election.

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• For the first time in history, all the key posts in the Rawalpindi division administration and local police have changed at the same time.

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• Democratic Alliance leaders have been alleged by controversial news media IOL to be embroiled in a R1.2 billion tender fraud.
• On 4 February 2026, DA Leader John Steenhuisen announced that he would be stepping down from his party leadership role, to focus exclusively on his portfolio as Minister of Agriculture.

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• The party says that it is committed to ensuring that those entitled to land receive it in the form of direct ownership, and not as lifelong tenants.

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• The party retained control of the Western Cape but with a reduced majority and failed to win Gauteng once again.

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The party's health policy also plans to devote more resources to vaccinations against common childhood illnesses. The DA's "Quality Care for All" programme is focused on tackling the country's high HIV/AIDS infection rate. The DA supports guaranteed access to a core minimum of resources for each school, proper state school nutrition schemes for grade 1–12 learners, and measures to train 30,000 additional teachers per year. The DA's education programme, "Preparing for Success", focuses on providing adequate physical and human resources to underperforming schools. The party also supports a universal old age pension, and the abolishment of pension means tests.

In the general elections of 2019, the DA's national support declined for the first time in its history. The campaign received a certain amount of media attention, much of it somewhat sceptical. In her newsletter, she wrote that, "winning power in the Western Cape will allow us to show what cooperative governance between local authorities and a province can achieve." In the 2011 local government elections, the party won control of most of the municipalities in the Western Cape. Zille said the new DA would be, "more reflective of our rich racial, linguistic, and cultural heritage," and emphasized that she wanted it to be a "party for all the people" and not decline into a "shrinking, irrelevant minority."

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History

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New law to be called Punjab’s Control of Habitual Offenders and Anti-Social Behaviour Bill 2026. The PPP chairman placed the issue of constitutional rights at the centre of the party’s election campaign in GB. Under the programme, 20,000 scholarships will be awarded to students at all public-sector universities in Sindh. For the first time in history, all the key posts in the Rawalpindi division administration and local police have changed at the same time. Oil-producing group agrees to increase quotas by 188,000 barrels per day from August, on top of similar increases for June and July. Four men, girl killed after armed men open fire in Qila Abdullah; another 4 men die as rival Bugti factions trade fire over marriage proposal.

In addition, the party announced its support for a prison labour programme, which would put prisoners to work in various community upliftment programmes. The party also announced plans to employ 30,000 additional detectives and forensics experts and 500 more prosecutors, in order to reduce court backlogs, and establish a Directorate for Victims of Crime, which would provide funding and support for crime victims. In the DA's crime plan, "Conquering Fear, Commanding Hope", the DA committed itself to increasing the number of police officers to 250,000.

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DA raises alarm over DNA backlogs and safety following insider warning

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Having gone into opposition in the Western Cape in 2001 when the NNP formed a new coalition with the ANC, the demise of the NNP made the province a natural target for the party. The party also became kingmakers in the Western Cape province, where it formed a coalition government with the NNP. The modern day DA is in large part a product of the white parliamentary opposition to the ruling National Party. The party has also governed the Western Cape, one of the country's nine provinces, with a majority since the 2009 general election. The current leader of the party is Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, who assumed leadership on 12 April 2026, after the party's Federal Congress. The DA has a variety of ideologically liberal tendencies, including neoliberalism, social liberalism, classical liberalism, and conservative liberalism.

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Previously the DA Abroad was led by Ludre Stevens between 2009 and 2015 and then by Francine Higham between 2015 and 2019 with Morné Van der Waltsleben as Global Operations Chair from 2013 to 2017. The Democratic Alliance Youth (DA Youth), which came officially into being in late 2008, was first led by Makashule Gana until 2013, Mbali Ntuli led between 2013 and 2014, Yusuf Cassim led from 2014 to 2018 and Luyolo Mphithi led from 2018 to 2022. The party says that it is committed to ensuring that those entitled to land receive it in the form of direct ownership, and not as lifelong tenants. This fits into the party's broader vision of growing the economy by cutting red tape and regulations it claims is holding back South Africa's economic growth. The party suggests that by relaxing certain regulations in these zones, manufacturers and exporters would be able to grow faster and employ more people. The DA also supports the creation of Industrial Development Zones and Export Processing Zones.

The ANC issued a detailed critique of the campaign, focusing especially on Suzman's role in the apartheid parliament. In May 2026, the party set out a 100-day crime plan that included lifestyle audits of police officers, rebuilding Crime Intelligence and giving local governments a greater role in crime prevention. Partially on the basis of this campaign the DA contested the 2014 general election, where it once again grew its support base but failed in its stated goal of winning Gauteng province. This campaign focused mainly on the role played by a few key individuals in opposing apartheid – particularly Helen Suzman and Helen Zille.

Helen Suzman and Harry Schwarz, who were prominent anti-apartheid campaigners during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s A member of Liberal International and the Africa Liberal Network, the DA traces its roots to the founding we. of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party in 1959, with many mergers and name changes between that time and the present. It was built over many years by leaders who each strengthened this party in different ways, often in difficult times, and against the prevailing tide.