South Africa’s Democratic Alliance Leader Announces Plan To Step Down

John Steenhuisen, leader of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance (DA), has announced that he will not seek re-election when the party holds its leadership contest in April, a decision that could have implications for the stability of the country’s coalition government.

The DA, South Africa’s second-largest political party, entered a landmark coalition with its long-time rival, the African National Congress (ANC), in 2024 after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority. Steenhuisen, who became DA leader in 2019, currently serves as minister of agriculture in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration.

At 49, Steenhuisen had been widely expected to run again, but reports suggest he was pressured to step aside following a series of controversies.
“For the rest of this term of office, I will focus all of my time and energy as minister of agriculture on defeating the most devastating foot-and-mouth disease outbreak our country has ever seen,” he told a press conference.

Steenhuisen began his political journey at just 22, when he was elected to the council of the port city of Durban under the Democratic Party, the DA’s predecessor. Over the years, he rose through local and regional ranks before becoming leader of the DA traditionally seen as a party with a predominantly white support base two decades later.

He was expected to run unopposed at the DA’s upcoming conference. However, a mix of internal party tensions and public scrutiny appears to have influenced his decision to step down.

Among the issues linked to his exit are a reported fallout with former Environment Affairs Minister Dion George, as well as allegations that Steenhuisen misused a party credit card. Although he was cleared of those allegations in January, the episode added to mounting pressure.

He has also faced criticism over his handling of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, with some farmers accusing his department of being an “obstacle in a crisis”.

The highly contagious disease has spread to most provinces, severely affecting the livestock industry. It causes painful blisters in animals’ mouths and under their hooves, leading to lameness and feeding difficulties. In dairy cattle, milk production drops significantly, often resulting in permanent loss of value.

Under Steenhuisen’s leadership, the DA agreed to join the ANC as its largest partner in a government of national unity nearly two years ago. The move marked a historic shift after the ANC, South Africa’s governing party since 1994 and the force behind the end of apartheid lost its parliamentary majority.

While the alliance has often been tense, it has endured. Steenhuisen and President Ramaphosa have frequently demonstrated that cooperation between former rivals is possible.

This was most notably seen during a high-profile Oval Office meeting with US President Donald Trump in May last year. After Trump confronted the South African delegation with a video promoting discredited claims of a white genocide in the country, Steenhuisen stepped in to reassure the US president that most white farmers wanted to remain in South Africa.

That moment, many analysts say, helped convince South Africans that the coalition government was worth the domestic political friction.

So far, no senior DA figures have formally declared their intention to run for the leadership. However, Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has been widely mentioned as a potential successor.

According to the TimesLive news site, Hill-Lewis who is considered close to Steenhuisen has repeatedly said he would not contest the leadership against his friend, leaving the party’s next chapter still uncertain.