South Africa's largest opposition party elects white leader

South Africa’s largest opposition party, Democratic Alliance, has elected a white leer, a move some analysts warn may cost it support from Black voters.

party, which attracted just over 20% of votes and won 89 parliamentary seats in last year's national poll, on Sunday elected John Steenhuizen to le party.

party's first Black leer Mmusi Maimane resigned last year, claiming angrily that he h been hampered by those who wanted to marginalize Black leers and preserve party for South Africa's white mirity.

Race relations continue to haunt Democratic Alliance, which was founded as a merger between predominantly white liberal political parties after fall in 1994 of South Africa's oppressive system of white mirity rule, kwn as aparid.

Although party has attracted black voters in recent years, it has struggled to shake off its im as a party led by whites and most interested in issues affecting country's white mirity, who make up 10% of country's 60 million people.

Democratic Alliance lost some of its tritional white voters to more right-wing Freedom Front Plus party in 2019 elections. Since n it has sought to avoid alienating whites by avoiding strong positions on issues like redistribution of land and ecomic redress for Black majority.

Steenhuizen's main challenger for party's leership was Mbali Ntuli, a Black woman who stood for position despite indications that Steenhuizen was supported by party’s top hierarchy, including its divisive former leer Helen Zille. Zille was elected Sunday to chair party's federal council.

election of Steenhuizen as leer of Democratic Alliance was a reaffirmation that party will pursue mirity politics inste of challenging ANC nationally, said analyst Ralph Makga, of University of Western Cape.

“Inste of campaigning against crime and murder nationally, y will be campaigning against farm killings which y find important because y affect white farmers,” he said.

Makga said Democratic Alliance is expected to lose many black voters as it appears to be more interested in keeping its tritional white support inste of attracting new Black voters.

“That is certainly t a growth strategy, but a consolidation of ir position as a white mirity party,” said Makga.