Democratic Alliance South Africa Wikipedia

In addition, the party announced its support for a prison labour programme, which would put prisoners to work in various community upliftment programmes. The party also announced plans to employ 30,000 additional detectives and forensics experts and 500 more prosecutors, in order to reduce court backlogs, and establish a Directorate for Victims of Crime, which would provide funding and support for crime victims. In the DA's crime plan, "Conquering Fear, Commanding Hope", the DA committed itself to increasing the number of police officers to 250,000.

New law to be called Punjab’s Control of Habitual Offenders and Anti-Social Behaviour Bill 2026. The PPP chairman placed the issue of constitutional rights at the centre of the party’s election campaign in GB. Under the programme, 20,000 scholarships will be awarded to students at all public-sector universities in Sindh. For the first time in history, all the key posts in the Rawalpindi division administration and local police have changed at the same time. Oil-producing group agrees to increase quotas by 188,000 barrels per day from August, on top of similar increases for June and July. Four men, girl killed after armed men open fire in Qila Abdullah; another 4 men die as rival Bugti factions trade fire over marriage proposal.

• The party has also governed the Western Cape, one of the country's nine provinces, with a majority since the 2009 general election.

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• The party retained control of the Western Cape but with a reduced majority and failed to win Gauteng once again.

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• Democratic Alliance leaders have been alleged by controversial news media IOL to be embroiled in a R1.2 billion tender fraud.
• On 4 February 2026, DA Leader John Steenhuisen announced that he would be stepping down from his party leadership role, to focus exclusively on his portfolio as Minister of Agriculture.

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• The party says that it is committed to ensuring that those entitled to land receive it in the form of direct ownership, and not as lifelong tenants.

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• For the first time in history, all the key posts in the Rawalpindi division administration and local police have changed at the same time.

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A legacy of leadership The Democratic Alliance did not become the party it is today by accident. Johannesburg is a city of incredible people and untapped potential. When municipalities collapse, crime thrives. Welcome to the DA’s dedicated page for our role in the Government of National Unity (GNU). Law enforcement official Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi reportedly also accused the party Spokesperson on State Security, Dianne Kohler Barnard, of being a part of a crime syndicate.

DA raises alarm over DNA backlogs and safety following insider warning

During this time, the party was led by liberal-minded opponents of Apartheid, such as Jan Steytler, Helen Suzman, Zach de Beer, Colin Eglin, Frederik van Zyl Slabbert and Harry Schwarz. The restaurant is not available for this day/time. The DA Abroad aims to grow the DA's overseas voter base, actively lobby for international awareness and influence for the furtherance of policies and action programmes of the DA and develop a global interconnected community that supports an open opportunity society for all. However, the DA, like the ANC, supports a two state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, seeking peaceful resolution between the two, and for Palestine to be free, saying "the people of Palestine are not defined by Hamas". These interventions include a wage subsidy programme to reduce the cost of hiring first-time workers.

Democratic Alliance leaders have been alleged by controversial news media IOL to be embroiled in a R1.2 billion tender fraud. Cabanac stated that he was the target of a successful smear campaign and that the comments in question were willfully taken out of context. In 2019, some commentators speculated that the resignation of the former party's leader, Mmusi Maimane, was a sign of "racial tensions in the party". White voters constitute the largest single demographic group within the party's support base at 43.4%, followed by Coloured voters at 19.6%, Black voters at 18%, and Indian voters at 8.9%. The DA's Young Leaders Programme (YLP) is a political leadership development programme for South Africans between the ages of 18 and 35. Between 2019 and 2021 it was led by Rory Jubber with Nigel Bruce acting as chairperson.

Injuries reported from Dadyal; Mirpur and Bhimber witness peaceful protests; teargas used to disperse people at Muzaffarabad’s Airport Chowk.

Health Tracking

In addition, to aid with youth development skills, the party proposed a R6000 opportunity voucher or twelve month community service programme to all villa grigio 46 φωτογραφίεσ high school matriculants. The party also supports legislation that would require the legal guardians of children living in poverty to ensure that their child attends 85 per cent of school classes, and undergoes routine health check-ups. Following the election of Geordin Hill-Lewis as Federal Leader in April 2026, the DA intensified its focus on crime, with Hill-Lewis describing crime as a national crisis and saying that South Africans could not be truly free if they did not feel safe in their homes, schools and businesses. The party adopted a resolution declaring farm attacks and murders as hate crimes at its 2020 Federal Congress. The DA strongly opposed the disbandment of the Scorpions crime investigation unit, and similar efforts to centralise the police service such as the nationwide disbandment of specialised Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units.

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Intimate Sleeping Keeper

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Cuthbert filled the position nearly five years after the previous CEO Simon Dickinson resigned following a year in the role. During his speech in his hometown of Durban, Steenhuisen highlighted the major success of the DA, under his leadership, of joining the ruling national government for the first time, after the party played a major role in the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU). The ANC failed to gain a majority of seats in the National Assembly after the election, leading to the DA agreeing to form a coalition of national unity (Third Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa), entering ruling government for the first time. In 2013, the DA launched the "Know Your DA" campaign, in an attempt to try to show that the DA (via its proxy predecessor organisations) was involved in the struggle against apartheid.

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The ANC issued a detailed critique of the campaign, focusing especially on Suzman's role in the apartheid parliament. In May 2026, the party set out a 100-day crime plan that included lifestyle audits of police officers, rebuilding Crime Intelligence and giving local governments a greater role in crime prevention. Partially on the basis of this campaign the DA contested the 2014 general election, where it once again grew its support base but failed in its stated goal of winning Gauteng province. This campaign focused mainly on the role played by a few key individuals in opposing apartheid – particularly Helen Suzman and Helen Zille.

Previously the DA Abroad was led by Ludre Stevens between 2009 and 2015 and then by Francine Higham between 2015 and 2019 with Morné Van der Waltsleben as Global Operations Chair from 2013 to 2017. The Democratic Alliance Youth (DA Youth), which came officially into being in late 2008, was first led by Makashule Gana until 2013, Mbali Ntuli led between 2013 and 2014, Yusuf Cassim led from 2014 to 2018 and Luyolo Mphithi led from 2018 to 2022. The party says that it is committed to ensuring that those entitled to land receive it in the form of direct ownership, and not as lifelong tenants. This fits into the party's broader vision of growing the economy by cutting red tape and regulations it claims is holding back South Africa's economic growth. The party suggests that by relaxing certain regulations in these zones, manufacturers and exporters would be able to grow faster and employ more people. The DA also supports the creation of Industrial Development Zones and Export Processing Zones.

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The DA supports an inflation-targeting monetary policy regime similar to that of the ANC government. Other fiscal interventions have included a proposed scrapping of value added tax (VAT) on books and tax rebates for crime prevention expenditure by businesses. This is evident in the party's previous alternative budget frameworks, with both alternative budgets posting deficits.

Helen Suzman and Harry Schwarz, who were prominent anti-apartheid campaigners during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s A member of Liberal International and the Africa Liberal Network, the DA traces its roots to the founding of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party in 1959, with many mergers and name changes between that time and the present. It was built over many years by leaders who each strengthened this party in different ways, often in difficult times, and against the prevailing tide.