Africa-Press. John Steenhuisen, leader of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance, announced that he will not run for re-election as party leader in April, raising fresh uncertainty about the country’s governing coalition.
The Democratic Alliance is the second-largest party after the African National Congress (ANC) in a coalition formed in June 2024, after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of white minority rule in 1994.
Steenhuisen has led the business-friendly Democratic Alliance since 2019 and also serves as the current Minister of Agriculture. He said he will now focus on that role as the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease worsens in South Africa.
Political analyst Ongama Mtimka said that Steenhuisen’s dual role as party leader and a minister in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government played an important part in rallying the Democratic Alliance toward cooperation with its coalition partners.
He added that with a new leader, voices within the Democratic Alliance may be heard calling to renegotiate some terms of the coalition agreement or withdraw from it.
Although the Democratic Alliance has clashed with the ANC on a number of issues, it is generally unlikely to pull out of the coalition, which gave it a role in the national government for the first time.
Political analysts say Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, also a senior figure in the Democratic Alliance, is likely to run for the party leadership in April and succeed Steenhuisen.
Steenhuisen has faced allegations that he used a party-issued credit card for personal expenses, although an internal Democratic Alliance investigation found no evidence that he misappropriated funds.
He told a press conference: “I will devote all my time and effort, for the remainder of my term as Minister of Agriculture, to ending the most serious foot-and-mouth disease outbreak our country has ever seen.” The Democratic Alliance holds about 22% of the seats in South Africa’s National Assembly, while the ANC holds 41%.
Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa, said: “Focusing more on foot-and-mouth disease is the right approach,” adding that “many producers will face a financial catastrophe.”
