The party will hold its national congress at the weekend, where John Steenhuisen and Helen Zille will be running for re-election in their respective positions as the DA’s federal leader and its federal council chairperson.

Political analysts believe that the Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen will have to prove that can lead without the shadow the former leader Helen Zille hanging over him.

This comes as the party gears up for its national elective conference this coming weekend.

Zille, who is the party’s federal council chairperson, will run for a second term to retain the powerful position.

While Steenhuisen is almost a shoo-in to be re-elected for a second term, there were suggestions that he needed to come out of Zille’s shadow.

But as the two leaders go into the weekend’s leadership race, it seemed they were inseparable as they both shared a campaign manager implying the two were aligned in their respective campaigns.

Political analyst Thabani Khumalo said this proved that Steenhuisen always led the party under the cloud of Zille.

“The DA had to recall Helen Zille to try and reposition the DA to its founding principles and objectives and John Steenhuisen was brought in.”

He said the re-positioning of the DA strongly appealed to minority races in the country, while drawing little attention from the black majority.

By: Alpha Ramushwana

For more information visit: ewn.co.za

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