The DA said party leader, Helen Zille, had more than delivered on her promise to build the opposition and grow the DA into a diverse party.
DA Federal Executive chairperson, James Selfe, on Sunday paid tribute to Zille following her "shock" announcement that she would not seek re-election at the DA's Federal Congress in Port Elizabeth next month.
Selfe said Zille Helen has an outstanding track record in government and had been voted World Mayor of the year during her tenure as Mayor of Cape Town.
"Our performance in government has helped us to grow with every election, making the DA the only party since the advent of democracy to do so. As we have grown, Helen has helped ensure that we have diversified our leadership, our membership and our voter base," Selfe said.
The DA has meanwhile extended the nomination deadline for top leadership positions by four days following Zille's announcement.
Nominations for all the top positions were due to be in by next Monday, but have now been extended to Friday 24 April, Selfe said.
"This is to allow people who might not have considered their options to do so", he added.
He said the the party would also work on an internal campaign to allow serious candidates to be exposed to party structures ahead of the party s federal congress in Port Elizabeth, which gets under way in less than a month - on 9 May.
Selfe said it was premature to predict names for Zille s replacement, and would not comment on speculation that a frontrunner was parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane.
Meanwhile, Zille said she announced her decision just weeks before the Federal Congress to avoid drawing the DA into a "debilitating contest" for the top spot.
She said that would that "deflect attention away from the party’s core functions which inevitably happens when a leadership race drags out for long periods of time."
Zille said she would continue working tirelessly to consolidate democracy in South Africa which she says has been her life's work.
She will remain Premier of the Western Cape until 2019.
