News24.com | DA KZN Congress: Party provincial heavyweights face off to elect leader to take party to 2024

• The DA KwaZulu-Natal congress will take place on Saturday, just a few weeks after its national congress.
• The current leadership, which is seeking a second term, will square off against candidates who believe they can do better. 
• Party leader John Steenhuisen will address the congress.

If endorsements are anything to go by, it will be a clean sweep for Dean Macpherson, who is seeking a second term as the DA KwaZulu-Natal chairperson. Macpherson is up against one of DA's long-serving members, Dianne Kohler Barnard, who has been running her campaign on the strength of being highly experienced in the party. 

The other hotly contested position is that of provincial leader, where Francois Rodgers is also seeking a second term and has used his years in the party's provincial leadership to advocate why he should get elected. 

However, according to party insiders, it won't be an easy ride for Rodgers as his rival in the position, Bongumusa Nhlabathi, has received overwhelming support to take over the position. 

The provincial congress, which sits on Saturday at the Durban International Convention Centre, will be addressed by DA leader John Steenhuisen and party chief whip Siviwe Gwarube.

The congress comes soon after the DA's national congress where KwaZulu-Natal, under the leadership of Macpherson and Rodgers, received an award for the province of the year in 2021. 

Addressing DA supporters on why they should vote for him, Macpherson said he was "completely focused on building the future" of the DA.

He said: 

Macpherson, who has been at the forefront of talks between the DA in KZN and IFP to bring the two parties together to unseat the ANC, urged DA supporters to put all their energy and time into focusing on winning votes and "getting the ANC out of provincial government".

"The people of our province are looking to us to rescue them from the collapsing local government… The most important achievement is that we have put the DA in KZN in a position to be in government and to save this province and this country," said Macpherson.

Macpherson has been endorsed by uMngeni Mayor Christopher Pappas and his deputy, Sandile Mnikathi.

Pappas, who is the current deputy leader but is not seeking a second term, encouraged DA delegates at the congress to vote for Macpherson, whom he said had "been there through the good times and the bad".

"Our province has never been this stable and united. It is really great to be part of KwaZulu-Natal at the moment. We have big plans, and I know that Dean is the person to lead us to the next elections. So, please, at the congress, vote for Dean Macpherson for provincial chairperson," said Pappas in a video.

The DA recently announced Kohler Barnard as the new spokesperson for state security and she will advise Steenhuisen on national security matters. 

She has been a Member of Parliament since 2004. In her letter on 10 March announcing that she would be running for the provincial chairperson role, she wrote that the job of the DA was to "rid this land of the ANC", and that she had done what she could in Parliament to achieve this. 

READ| Another demotion for Mazzone as she moves from state security role back to communications

She claimed that she was behind the removal "of many, many ANC cadres", listing the likes of the late minister of health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, "as well as minister after minister after minister". 

"Now we have to do that there [in KwaZulu-Natal] – we have to rid ourselves of the looting, pillaging ANC who want to steal our future, and the future of our children.

"We know that our party, the DA, is the only party that can save our country. Like you, I dare to dream that we will form the core of an alternative government, nationally, and right here in our home province," said Kohler Barnard. 

She promised to care for the activists in the DA and not take them for granted, saying they were often used to win internal elections and then discarded. 

While Kohler Barnard appears to not have received as many endorsements as her rival, Macpherson, she has received the nod from some of the oldest members of the DA in the province, such as Pam Passmoor, who has been a councillor in uMngeni since 2004. 

In her endorsement, Passmore wrote: "As a member of a political family spanning many decades, I know what it is like to battle through the 'politics of the long haul'. It is all too easy to claim victories at the very end, but for me winning uMngeni was all about slogging away for a very long time indeed." 

She added: 

Others who endorsed her said she was courageous, compassionate, loyal to the party, and had the experience to lead the province in the general elections. 

Meanwhile, Rodgers has also received the endorsement of Pappas and Mnikathi to come back as leader.

Rodgers says his leadership experience dating back to 1998 sets him apart from his opponent.

He has said that for the DA to be in government following the 2024 elections will require a leader who has experience, will bring stability, has vision, and can offer leadership - and he believes he has all those things.

Those backing him have hailed him as a visionary with enough experience to lead the DA to a 2024 election victory in the province. They have also credited him for providing stability and unity in the province.

Nhlabathi, Rodgers' rival, is a senior leader in Msunduzi Municipality, and seemingly has huge support behind him.

He has promised DA supporters in the province real growth, functional party structures, a strategic campaign team, and unity in diversity.

Though no big party names are behind him, those who support him believe he is the right man to lead the party into 2024. 

They include MP Sibongiseni Ngcobo, who believes that "[Nhlabathi's] new approach for 2024 and beyond is a clear plan" for helping the DA in KZN.

DA caucus leader in eThekwini, Thabani Mthethwa, believes that Nhlabathi, whom he called "humble and selfless" is the right person to lead the DA beyond 2024.

Another hotly-contested position in the DA KZN leadership race is deputy provincial chairperson, which has 10 people challenging for the position.