John Steenhuisen won reelection as leader of South Africa’s biggest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), according to a DA statement.

The internal vote comes as the country prepares for general elections next year.

Support for the DA and the populist opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, has fallen in recent months, according to a Social Research Foundation poll. The ruling African National Congress has led the country since the end of White-minority rule in 1994.