DA's John Steenhuisen has been ousted from his ministerial role.
Image: TUMI PAKKIES
Comments by former DA leader John Steenhuisen that his sacking by Geordin Hill-Lewis as agriculture minister was similar to giving his head to a pack of hyenas may deepen divisions within the party.
This is the view of at least one political analyst after Steenhuisen broke his silence in a recent interview saying a deal was in place that he would remain agriculture minister in exchange for not running against Hill-Lewis for the DA leadership in April.
The new DA leader demoted him to deputy minister of trade and industry. President Cyril Ramaphosa has yet to implement the DA’s Cabinet change requests.
DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis.
Image: DA/ X
“I'm deeply disappointed. But I think my disappointment lies more at a personal level than at a professional level. Obviously, the leader of the party chooses who he appoints and disappoints. I’ve always respected that. I've been in that position before, but I think, in this instance, for me, the personal issue is that a word was given, and a word was broken.
"I'm disappointed, but I will continue to work and do what I've done for the last 30 years,” Steenhuisen said.
“When I give my word to somebody, they can take that to the bank. But clearly, I should have stuck by that old cliched political comment that, ‘if you want to guarantee in politics, buy a toaster’, because there are no guarantees in politics, and that has been very clearly played out here,” Steenhuisen added.
“The deal was that I would stand down as leader, but that I would remain on as Minister of Agriculture, at least until I'd been able to reach my target of vaccinating 80% of the cattle. Given the fact that one of the reasons I stepped down was to focus full time on the fight against FMD. I duly stood down, and now I've been removed from that particular fight with much progress having been made, and obviously a long way still to go, but I really wanted to see that through.”
“The hyenas have been circling for months, waiting for the moment to pounce. And now they’ve torn me down,” he said.
He also warned the DA that appeasing what he calls the 'AfriMAGA mob' will send a signal to black, coloured and Indian voters that the party is not interested in them.
He lashed out at Tony Leon, his political mentor and former DA leader, for “relentlessly” driving negative FMD publicity against him, and accused Leon’s public relations firm of using its proximity to DA leaders to set up meetings between DA ministers in the government of national unity and his clients, including Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said that Steenhuisen’s interview is his way of getting his own jab in.
“It’s a form of pleading for sympathy… This may actually work in his favour, or it may also deepen the divisions. Because any new leader must know that the first challenge they face is to heal the wounds that come from the contest.
“So, (Steenhuisen) is simply saying, those who may seem to have lost because of the changes, he is appealing to them, signalling that they can rally around him.”
Seepe said that Steenhuisen's remarks are those of “a wounded person”.
When contacted for comment, Hill-Lewis's response instead focused on campaigning rather than the contexts of Steenhuisen’s address.
"Our first and highest responsibility is to the public of South Africa. What we do, and the party we are building, really matters. It could define whether South Africa succeeds in future or not. That is the DA’s historic mission, and I feel profoundly responsible to do all I can to try to achieve it.”
He later added: “Public affairs and government relations are well-established industries in South Africa and around the world. Businesses, NGOs, industry bodies and other organisations routinely engage with political parties and public representatives on matters of public policy. That is entirely lawful and commonplace.
“No evidence has been presented that any DA public representative acted improperly or that any party process or public office was used to advance private commercial interests,” Hill-Lewis said.
“The DA does not comment on hypothetical disciplinary questions based on unsubstantiated claims. Should credible evidence of wrongdoing ever be presented, the party has established processes to deal with such matters.”
Cape Times