The DA caucus in Parliament has appointed former chief whip George Michalakis as parliamentary leader.
Image: Picture: Independent Newspapers Archive
The DA’s chief whip, George Michalakis, came out as the victor and was elected as the party’s new Parliamentary leader on Thursday, where he will now spearhead the DA’s work in the national legislature.
Michalakis, who was already the party’s Chief Whip, won over his fellow contenders Kevin Mileham and Andrew Whitfield.
DA national spokesperson Jan de Villiers had previously explained that the DA's federal constitution states that if the party's elected leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis, does not sit in the national caucus, which is now the case, then the caucus needs to elect its own parliamentary leader.
In a statement on Thursday, announcing his election as parliamentary leader, the DA’s caucus chairperson, Desiree van der Walt, said they are confident that Michalakis will “vigorously lead the DA in Parliament in line with our values and principles and fight for what is best for all South Africans in Parliament”.
“As parliamentary leader, Michalakis will spearhead the DA’s work in the National Legislature and ensure that government is subjected to rigorous oversight. This includes leading the DA’s legislative agenda, such as our bill to replace BEE and bar impeached officials from serving in Parliament, as well as making sure that power is held to account.”
Sharing his feelings over being backed by his fellow MPs, Michalakis said that he is “incredibly proud” of himself, while also feeling humbled.
“It is an incredibly dynamic caucus. In some instances, members who have been in Parliament longer than I have, but also a group of very young members of Parliament who are really, very keen to make a difference and to have gotten so much support from so many colleagues, I respect is really a very proud and humbling thing.
“But it is also a clear indication that they have faith in the direction that I proposed, and we now need to get working,” Michalakis said. “I now have to, obviously, appoint a new chief whip for myself, but to a large extent, it builds on some of the successes that I had during my two years as chief whip.”
He added that while it is important to appoint a new chief hhip as soon as possible, he will not be rushed to make his decision.
“I am not going to, at this point, be pressurised to give timelines because I would like to apply my mind to this. It is a role that, for me, was very important.
“It was a great honour to have served in it, but I also understand the importance of getting the right person in that position, and therefore, I have already started applying my mind to it.
“I have to still consult a few people that I trust, but also then to come up with the right name. So it will probably be done in the next few days, but at this point, I have not gotten to the point where I'm ready to announce a name yet,” Michalakis said.
Michalakis said he understood how crucial a role it is, given the successes that he feels the party have achieved over the last couple of years, and he will strive to build on that as Parliamentary leader.
“We have achieved some wonderful successes within the GNU and within Parliament, such as the VAT fight, and recently the fuel price hikes that the DA pushed to not be increased.
“We had some successes on legislation like the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE Act), and the SOE bill is still being negotiated. We're talking to the ministers about the Threshold bill (Local Government: Municipal Structures Second Amendment Bill, 2025),” Michalakis said.
“The committee on the presidency was established. We changed some of Parliament's rules. So there's a lot of things that happened in the last two years that I think the DA caucus can be really proud of, things that we manage to change quite successfully, and I think this will be not only a continuation, but a building on those successes, because we have ultimately one goal before us at the moment, and that is to make sure that we now grow the DA into the biggest party in Parliament,” Michalakis said.
Democratic Alliance federal leader, and City of Cape Town Mayor. Geordin Hill-Lewis.
Image: Armand Hough/Independent Newspapers
He also looks forward to working with the new federal leader, Hill-Lewis, who he said is a “very, very good politician” and was among the first to congratulate him after being elected.
“He is a wonderful person, and he has been very effective as mayor with experience of governing very well. I met Geordin for the first time just before I came to Parliament, and we served in Parliament together during my first term. So I'm looking forward to working with him very much.
“Obviously, as I said on Thursday to a few people, the parliamentary caucus is not an island. We are an anchor for the party.
“We can't function as a separate entity outside of the rest of the DA, and we will make sure that all our efforts over the year are aligned. Obviously, Geordin said at the Congress where he got elected, that the most important issue for him at this point is security and justice,” Michalakis said.
“I think overall, it is my task to ensure that not only do we align from a parliamentary side with the federal leader, but that we also align with both our objectives in the coming two elections, the 2026 election and the national elections after that.”
theolin.tembo@inl.co.za