Reports mount that John Steenhuisen is on his way out as DA leader
Speculation is building that Minister of Agriculture and current Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), John Steenhuisen, plans to step down as party leader.
Steenhuisen sent out an alert on Tuesday, 3 February, saying he will make an announcement “concerning matters of national importance and public interest” on 4 February.
Following this, DA insiders have told multiple news outlets, including Bloomberg, News24, SABC, Business Day and more, that they are expecting the leader to announce that he will not seek re-election as leader at the DA’s upcoming federal congress in April.
Following up on this, a well-placed source within the party, speaking to Newsday on condition of anonymity, confirmed that “it is expected,” but would not divulge any further details.
Following media reports that he plans to not seek re-election, Steenhuisen posted a well-known image of former US President Harry Truman holding a copy of a newspaper with the headline “Dewey defeats Truman”.
The notorious photograph shows a publishing error from the Chicago Daily Tribune, following the 1948 elections, where Truman was elected over Thomas Dewey.
The message is an indication that headlines may be incorrect and could be spreading fake news.
“Until you see me outlining the full set of facts tomorrow, avoid speculation,” Steenhuisen wrote alongside the image.
However, as South African politics has proven, nothing is certain.
According to party insiders, discussions about a leadership transition have been ongoing for some time, but Steenhuisen was said to be seeking reassurance that he would retain his position as minister before stepping aside.
This would clear the way for the widely-reported top contendor, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, to stand for DA Leader.
His name has been put forward by many inside and outside the party, but he has maintained his position that he would not run for leader if Steenhuisen was still in the running.
Steenhuisen under fire
Steenhuisen has been in the spotlight over recent months, after he removed the DA’s minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment, Dion George, who accused Steenhuisen of misusing party funds.
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.
Following George’s complaints, the matter was referred to the DA’s Federal Legal Commission for a full investigation.
An initial investigation led by Glynnis Breytenbach confirmed that a “limited number of personal expenses” were paid for using the DA card, but that this money was adequately explained and reimbursed.
However, Steenhuisen is still the subject of a party disciplinary inquiry, investigating whether he violated sections of the DA’s federal constitution by bringing the DA into disrepute and undermining internal cooperation for allegedly leaking things to the media.
Steenhuisen was again criticised by certain ranks within the DA for his handling of the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) crisis.
The minister is currently facing legal action from agriculture lobby groups for his action plan. It is strictly state-controlled and must remain so to receive international recognition for FMD-free status.
An editorial from the Common Sense suggests there is concern within DA that Steenhuisen’s firm insistence on state control risks alienating the party’s core farming constituency.
John Steenhuisen’s political career began at the age of 22 when he was elected to the Durban City Council in 1999. He was one of the city’s youngest councillors at the time.
He went on to serve as the DA’s caucus leader in the eThekwini Municipality and later in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature.
He was chief whip of the official opposition from 2014 to 2019 before he was elected as federal leader of the DA in November 2020, and was re-elected for a second term in 2023.
Reports indicate that he will make his announcement to step down tomorrow at the Riverside Hotel in eThekwini due to the area’s significance in the start of his political journey.
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I pity he has given so much to the DA