Maimane resigned as DA leader in October 2019 and John Steenhuisen was voted in as his interim successor in November. In May 2020, the DA announced that it would hold its Federal Congress to elect new leadership on 31 October to 1 November 2020. Mphithi was against the decision and later supported KwaZulu-Natal MPL Mbali Ntuli's bid for DA leader. Steenhuisen was elected leader for a full term in a landslide on 1 November. He announced his shadow cabinet in December 2020 and kept Mphithi as Shadow Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities in the Presidency.
