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SA opposition to elect new leader SA opposition elects new leader
(1 day later)
South Africa's largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), is meeting to choose a new leader. South Africa's largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has elected Helen Zille - the mayor of Cape Town - as its new leader.
After 13 years, Tony Leon is stepping down and the favourite to succeed him is the mayor of Cape Town, Helen Zille. She will succeed Tony Leon who is stepping down after 13 years.
The 56-year-old has made it clear that if she is successful, she wants to retain her position as mayor. The biggest challenge facing the Democratic Alliance is to attract more black support.
The Democratic Alliance is criticized for being too white and middle-class, and has consistently failed to attract large numbers of black voters. Helen Zille had been the favourite in this party leadership contest, with strong political credentials and a high-profile position as mayor.
At the party's conference this weekend, there will be a three-way contest to decide who takes over the leadership. She was both a journalist and an activist during the struggle against apartheid.
'The big factor' In more recent years, as a Democratic Alliance MP, she worked in Khayelitsha, one of the most impoverished areas of Cape Town.
Outgoing leader Tony Leon admits that race is still a problem in South Africa. Since becoming mayor of the city last year, Helen Zille has had fierce political tussles with South Africa's governing party - the African National Congress.
"We've got to move out of the politics of identity to the politics of issue. But she is determined to remain as Cape Town's mayor, while at the same time, leading the Democratic Alliance (DA) in parliament.
"The big factor is, when will South Africans start voting outside of their skin colour and start voting alongside the issues that matter to them," he said. The DA has grown in size since the 1990s, but although it is the largest opposition party, it still only holds 12% of the seats in the National Assembly.
The weakness of South Africa's young democracy is the lack of strong opposition in parliament. The DA has long been criticised for being too white and middle class.
The governing African National Congress (ANC) holds 73% of the seats in the National Assembly; the Democratic Alliance has just 12%. One of Helen Zille's priorities will be to draw in more black voters and break the concentration of power that lies with the ANC.
But as the DA prepares for a change of leadership, opposition politicians are eying a chance to break the concentration of power that lies with the ANC.