We were curious: has the DA really drifted rightwards over the last decade, as some observers claim? A policy team drafts proposals, which are then voted on by delegates at the DA’s policy conferences. There is no mention of the LGBTIQ+ community in Steenhuisen’s main 2024 manifesto, though the current DA policy paper on Social Development contains a condemnation of “conversion therapy” for minors. Steenhuisen’s 2024 manifesto mentions apartheid just once — to dismiss the ANC’s use of it as an excuse to explain the failures of the education system. Guns, guns, gunsPerhaps the most overt policy shift aimed to appeal to more right-leaning voters, however, has been the party’s approach to gun control.