Members of South Africa’s opposition Democratic Alliance voted on Sunday at a congress expected to elect the party’s first black leader in what has been billed as a watershed moment for the mostly white party.
Some 1,425 delegates from across the country began casting their votes by secret ballot early in the morning with all eyes on Mmusi Maimane, 34, the party’s parliamentary leader and the favourite to succeed outgoing leader Helen Zille, who has led the party for eight years.
Maimane was raised in the township of Soweto — heartland of the anti-apartheid struggle — and joined the Democratic Alliance (DA) only in 2009. He faces competition from Wilmot James, a 61-year-old mixed-race party veteran who is current the party’s chairman.
“Voting has closed and counting is now underway. Results are expected by 1 pm (1630 IST),” said Congress Presiding Officer Penny Tainton.
Today’s vote marks “a milestone for the DA and South African politics”, according to an editorial in the Sunday Times.
“For much of the past two decades, our political contest has been a black versus white affair, with the ANC (African National Congress) seen as the party of the previously oppressed and the DA as a party of white interests,” the newspaper added.
It said the new leader would face a “tough balancing act” between growing support for the party without alienating its traditional voters.c