John Steenhuisen under fire

Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, has come under the spotlight recently for alleged credit card debt and misuse of party funds. 

Following the negative attention, political analyst Professor Piet Croucamp says its unlikely that Steenhuisen will survive the scandal and remain leader of the party as it approached its 2026 leadership elections.

The accusations against the leader were revealed by Former Minister of Forestry Fisheries and the Environment, Dion George, following his removal.

George said Steenhuisen violated the DA’s constitution and rules. 

In an interview with Rapport, George said that he had stopped the party’s credit card, used by Steenhuisen, because the leader was using the card to pay for Uber Eats food delivery and household expenses. 

He issued a formal complaint with DA federal Executive Chairperson Helen Zille. 

Steenhuisen responded to the allegations, saying that George is just “bitter” over the recent changes made to the National Executive caucus, in which George was removed from his position as Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. 

“As I have said many times before, if he has proof of wrongdoing, then he must provide that to the FLC of the party,” Steenhuisen told Rapport.

“He will, however, have to explain why he has never done so before his removal, which clearly exposes this as a revenge attempt,” he said. 

George, however, insists he submitted the complaint before he was removed.

As a result of the formal complaint, Zille announced that the matter had been handed to the party’s Federal Legal Commission for a full investigation. 

According to a recent Daily Maverick report, Steenhuisen also received a default judgment on almost R150,000 in unpaid credit card debt in May this year, adding fuel to the fire. 

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika following the recent events, political analyst Croucamp said that he thinks the leader will be removed from the party before the 2026 local elections. 

“The DA says that they value sound management and they don’t tolerate corruption, they don’t tolerate mismanagement,” Croucamp said. 

“Now, do they do that when it comes to their own leadership structures? Can they do that introspection and hold people accountable?”

‘If you can’t manage your debt, how can you manage a country?’

He added that the DA has long chastised the ANC for failing to act on mismanagement and hold party members accountable. 

“There is only one way they can solve this – I can’t imagine that John can survive this. It’s not possible for him to survive this,” he said. 

Around April 2026, the DA will hold a leadership election, and Croucamp said he wouldn’t be surprised if the party’s federal executive asked him to stand aside. 

Croucamp anticipates this will be the case even if the party’s investigation finds that Steenhuisen was not guilty of the allegations against him. 

“He’s not a good party leader,” he said. “I remember when he was elected, I said that the DA must elect somebody who can become the president of South Africa, because that’s what you do elections for.”

“South Africa is not going to have a white man for a president now, and even if we do have a white man, it’s not going to be John Steenhuisen.” added Croucamp.

The political analyst added that the DA will, if they decide to remove Steenhuisen, have to contend again with the challenge of electing another leader who stands a chance at becoming president. 

“And if you look carefully through the leadership cabinet of the DA it’s bare. It’s really bare,” he said. 

However, he added that, with the local government elections set for a year from now, the DA still has time to recover from the recent events, but that Steenhuisen will probably not be a part of this recovery.

“You don’t want your leader’s credit card to be taken away, and he can’t pay his debt to the bank,” he said. 

“If you can’t even manage that, how do you manage the party’s affairs? And how will you manage South Africa if you do become the president?”