The new leader of South Africa's second-largest party has to solve a problem that none of his three immediate predecessors were able to crack: how to extend the Democratic Alliance's popularity beyond its core support mostly made up of white people and other racial minorities.
Despite the advent of the multi-ethnic "Rainbow Nation" and the end of the racist apartheid system in 1994, South Africa remains fractured on racial lines.
For the DA to take charge of the country, Geordin Hill-Lewis, who took over the reins of the party from John Steenhuisen on Sunday, must find a way to bridge the divides and appeal to the country's black majority.
Since the 2014 general election its share of the vote has been stuck at 20% or thereabouts.
There was a lot of noise surrounding the 2024 election result, which saw the African National Congress support drop below 50% for the first time and forced it into a coalition with the DA and eight other parties. But the entry of the pro-business DA into power disguised the fact that it still only polled just shy of 22%.
