Story audio is generated using AIDA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has lashed out at the ANC for allegedly refusing to consult or compromise on government policies, saying his party would make public the positions it had taken inside the government of national unity (GNU). President Cyril Ramaphosa invited the DA and other opposition parties, including the UDM, Freedom Front Plus, Rise Mzansi, PAC, PA and the GOOD party, to join the GNU after the ANC’s electoral support plunged below 50% in the national and provincial elections two years ago. Now, in 2026, the ANC is polling below 50% across all demographics. In fact, if only black South Africans voted, the ANC would not win a majority. Let that sink in. The party is over. Our second transition is here. We must begin to prepare for a post-ANC future. The national question is what a post-ANC future looks like.— DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis In his first major speech after his election as DA leader in April, Hill-Lewis told a briefing attended by journalists, policy analysts and diplomats in Sandton on Thursday that the decision to join the GNU was correct. “The alternative was to allow destructive populists into power. We could not and will never allow that. We were also determined to show South Africa what the DA can do in government, and we have had real successes in putting the citizen at the centre of policymaking,” he said. “Of course we have not always got everything right. But our worth isn’t measured by the mistakes we make. It is measured by how quickly we identify and correct them. Under my leadership, the DA will not tolerate poor performance because my first loyalty is to the constitution and to the citizens of this country.” Hill-Lewis said on economic policy, in particular “on business licensing, industrial strategy, and the review of BEE, the ANC has proceeded as though the election result meant nothing. We will not accept that”. The DA and ANC have butted heads over key government policies, including broad-based black economic empowerment, National Health Insurance and the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act. “The DA will no longer remain silent when the ANC refuses to consult or compromise, and we will make public the positions we have taken inside the GNU. This is not meant as a threat. It is a matter of basic respect for democracy. We have a mandate from the citizens who voted for us, and we are honour-bound to tell them what we are doing with their trust,” Hill-Lewis said. He said he chose to remain outside the GNU when he was elected DA federal leader “for the simple reason of independence”.“I do not owe my position to President Ramaphosa. I owe it to the millions of people who voted for us and to the millions who have not yet voted for us. These are the people I care about, real people, citizens of this great country, people who want a chance to build a decent life for themselves.” In 2024, for the first time, most South Africans did not vote for the ANC. “Now, in 2026, the ANC is polling below 50% across all demographics. In fact, if only black South Africans voted, the ANC would not win a majority. Let that sink in. The party is over. Our second transition is here. We must begin to prepare for a post-ANC future. The national question is what a post-ANC future looks like.” Hill-Lewis said the second transition puts the citizen at the centre of politics and a citizen-centred government “begins by restoring a simple principle: the state does not belong to any party. It belongs to the citizens”. “Success in government is measured by what citizens experience. Whether the school functions. Whether the clinic works. Whether the train runs. Whether the crime is investigated. Whether the lights stay on. The standard by which government should be judged is the lived experience of the people in whose name it governs,” he said. The five pillars of a citizen-centred South Africa are: a state that belongs to the people, not to the party; an economy that offers opportunities for all, not favours for the politically connected; an education system organised around children’s needs, not union interests; a criminal justice system that protects law-abiding citizens, not those who prey on them; and a social welfare system that builds agency, not dependency. “This is the South Africa we are going to build,” the DA leader said. South Africa is set to hold local government elections on November 4.Business Day