DA
South African main opposition party elects new leader
South Africa’s largest opposition party on Sunday elected John Steenhuisen as their leader, who vowed to take the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) to greater heights after a slump in electoral support. Steenhuisen, who has acted as interim party leader since its first black leader Mmusi Maimane quit over a year ago, has also served as party chief whip in parliament. The triumph will see him lead the DA in the 2024 presidential elections against the ruling African National Congress (ANC). In his acceptance speech, Steenhuisen said under his leadership “people power” would be the order of the day, promising to “fight to give power and opportunities to every law-abiding, honest and hard-working citizen, regardless of their background”. Securing a whopping 80 per cent of the historic virt...
South Africa minister reprimanded for party’s trip on airforce jet
South Africa’s defence minister has been reprimanded and will lose three months of salary after ruling party officials took an air force plane to Zimbabwe earlier this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday. The African National Congress (ANC) delegation’s presence aboard the flight sparked widespread criticism over the use of state resources for party business. Their trip to Harare was for crisis talks with Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF ruling party aimed at helping tackle the country’s political and economic woes. But they tagged along aboard Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s plane, rather than travelling privately. She had a scheduled meeting in Zimbabwe to discuss regional issues following a recent summit of the Southern African Development Community bloc. Mapisa-Nqakula will no...
