DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis came out guns blazing in his first major speech as party leader on Thursday, declaring the ANC is politically finished and accusing it of turning South Africans into subjects rather than citizens.

He also reiterated to party members that his loyalty is to the people of South Africa and not to individuals.

These comments come after his predecessor, John Steenhuisen, complained that he had been unfairly treated after Hill-Lewis requested President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove Steenhuisen as agriculture minister and replace him with the party’s former spokesperson Willie Aucamp.

In recent interviews, Steenhuisen described the decision to demote him to the position of deputy minister for trade, industry and competition as a “betrayal”.

While Hill-Lewis has not given reasons for his recommendations to Ramaphosa, it is believed that Steenhuisen’s demotion is connected to his handling of the foot-and-mouth disease.

Performance of DA members

Hill-Lewis told senior and ordinary members of his party at a gathering in Johannesburg on Thursday that he has high standards for all those the party has entrusted with positions.

“Of course we have not gotten everything right, but our worth is not measured by the mistakes that we make. It’s measured by how quickly we identify and correct them.

“I want to make it clear that, under my leadership the DA will not tolerate poor performance, because our first loyalty, my first loyalty is to the constitution and the citizens of this country,” he said.

DA’s role in GNU

He emphasised that the DA got into government with the ANC to improve the lives of South Africans and keep “populist” parties away from the levers of state power.

However, he said the DA was becoming agitated with the ANC’s arrogance in the GNU.

“The ANC has preceded as though the election result meant nothing. We will not accept that, the DA will no longer remain silent when the ANC refuses to consult or compromise and we will make public the decisions we have taken inside the GNU.

“This is not meant as a threat, in fact it is a matter of basic respect for democracy,” he said.

Hill-Lewis said he strategically chose to remain out of national government as DA leader so that he could have an objective view of the state of the GNU.

“I do not owe my position to President Ramaphosa. I owe it to the millions of people who voted for us, and I also owe it to the millions of people who have not yet voted for us but who I hope and believe will do so in future,” he said.

Attack on the ANC

He launched a blistering attack on the ANC’s three decades in government, saying the party had betrayed the promise of 1994 through cadre deployment, state capture, patronage politics and failed economic policies. He also unveiled what he described as a citizen-centred vision for South Africa, calling it the country’s “second transition”.

“The party is over. Our second transition is here. We must begin to prepare for a post-ANC future,” Hill-Lewis said.

Hill-Lewis accused the ANC of placing loyalty ahead of competence, saying cadre deployment hollowed out the public service and laid the foundation for state capture.

“State capture was not an aberration; it was a destination. The inevitable conclusion of a party that put loyalty above everything else,” he said.

He then also criticised black economic empowerment, saying that although it was introduced to address historical injustices, it had largely benefited a politically connected elite while millions of South Africans remained unemployed.

“As implemented, BEE did not build broad black wealth. It allocated access to wealth narrowly, through the party, to those the party chose,” he said.

Winning black trust

Hill-Lewis said he often meets black South Africans who have told him that they do not trust his party. He said he is working hard to win their trust.

He said he is on a mission to ensure that the DA becomes the biggest party in the country.

“I know that is an ambitious goal, but I believe that we can achieve it if we build the right kind of party, a party that governs well for everyone, that is present in every community that holds itself and its coalition partners to account and that believes above all else in the capacity of south Africans to take control of their lives and futures,” he said.