Pretoria - Western Cape health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo was on Friday elected Democratic Alliance Women's Network (Dawn) leader, while Luyolo Mphithi was elected DA Youth (Day) leader.
"Democratic Alliance ancillary bodies DA Youth and DA Women's Network [on Friday] convened for its joint federal congress in Tshwane and elected new leadership structures. The joint congress hosted hundreds of delegates from across the country," DA chief electoral officer Anchen Dreyer said.
"Dawn elected Dr Nomafrench Mbombo as its federal leader and Safiyia Stanfley as the deputy federal Dawn leader. The DA Youth elected Luyolo Mphithi as its federal youth leader, while Zahid Badroodien was elected as federal youth chairperson," she said.
Mbombo was currently Western Cape health MEC and held "a doctorate in gender and human rights, a masters in maternal and child health, and a bachelors degree in nursing".
Mphithi was a former City of Johannesburg councillor, a Mandela Rhodes scholar, a Mandela Washington fellow, and one of the Mail & Guardian’s Top 200 young persons in South Africa 2017, said Dreyer.
"Both these leaders have a proven track record of service in the DA’s party structures. They have demonstrated that they are dedicated and fearless leaders who have the passion necessary to help build South Africa into one nation with one future that is based on our core values of freedom, fairness, and opportunity for all."
Dreyer said the DA was "pleased to have this calibre of leaders join our fight to build one South Africa for all" and hoped the party would achieve its best results in the upcoming 2019 national and provincial elections.
The DA's national congress is currently underway at the Tshwane Events Centre, and has been billed as "the largest and the most diverse in the history of the party".