Tony Leon, Resolve Communications chairperson and former DA leader, is accused of exposing the party's ministers to business pressure to change policies.
Image: Independent Media Archives
There might be nothing legally wrong about capitalists influencing ministers to change government policies to suit their business interests as they spend millions of rand funding political parties to achieve that, but the DA has lost its moral high ground, said political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu.
Ndlovu, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said the DA can no longer claim the moral high ground regarding clean governance and transparency following a revelation by its former leader, John Steenhuisen.
In a recent interview with News24, Steenhuisen revealed that DA ministers within the Government of National Unity (GNU) faced pressure from specific business interests to alter policies.
He noted that this lobbying targeted several officials, including himself during his tenure as minister of Agriculture, Communication Minister Solly Malatsi, and current Agriculture Minister Willie Aucamp, who previously served as the minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment.
Steenhuisen accused Resolve Communications, which is chaired by former DA leader Tony Leon, of pressuring the ministers on behalf of its clients: billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Starlink and REDISA.
However, it remains unclear whether Starlink and REDISA are part of companies that are bankrolling the DA, as they do not appear on the list, published by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on May 29, 2026, of companies and individual persons who funded the party.
Ndlovu said that in any democracy, governments are captured by interest groups that donate money and lobby. He said there is nothing illegal about it as long as it is done according to the rules.
UKZN political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu says the DA has lost its moral high ground.
Image: IOL
“I wouldn't be surprised if the DA is captured just like other parties, as the business sector spends a lot of money trying to influence government policy in its favour.
“I don't think there is anything illegal, but we can question whether it is ethical for a former DA leader (Leon) to do what he is accused of doing,” said Ndlovu.
However, he said Steenhuizen's claims paint the DA in a bad light.
“DA ministers, just like ministers from other parties, are vulnerable to being pressured,” said Ndlovu.
He also raised suspicion about the timing of Steenhuisen’s coming up with such information.
“Why did Steenhuisen keep quiet until now? Is he bitter about his demotion? Should he be trusted?”
In the News24 interview posted on YouTube, Steenhuisen said Resolve pushed him and other DA ministers to meet its clients.
He said Malatsi was forced to meet with Starlink.
Former DA leader John Steenhuisen sparked the fire by revealing that Tony Leon's company attempted to get ministers to succumb to private business pressure.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers
In May 2025, Malatsi gazetted a policy direction that is diluting the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment policy by exonerating multinationals that are investing in the country from giving 30% ownership to previously disadvantaged black people.
Instead of giving away a 30% stake, the policy states that investors should invest in local suppliers, enterprise and skills development, job creation, infrastructure support, research and innovation, digital inclusion initiatives, and funding for SMMEs.
This move was reportedly an attempt to allow Starlink to operate in the country without giving away 30% of its business.
Steenhuisen said through pressure from Resolve, he met Starlink officials who complained to him that Malatsi was not moving fast enough, and he reported this to his party, as he thought this might be problematic if not checked.
“Meetings (of Resolve clients) were left with individual ministers to make a call themselves,” he said.
He did not elaborate on the circumstances surrounding Resolve Communications’ attempt to push former then DFFE-ministers Dion George and Aucamp to meet REDISA.
Dr Reneva Fourie, a policy analyst specialising in governance, development, and security, said if Steenhuisen’s claims are true, it would mean that Leon is trying to “grossly” interfere with government policies using the DA ministers.
“It would also demonstrate a complete disregard for government procurement processes, which are designed to ensure transparency and fairness in the tender system, by directing public resources to benefit powerful companies and connected individuals,” said Fourie.
Fourie suspects that there is more policy interference within the DA, and the Leon scandal might not be the only one.
“Other scandals associated with the DA have been glossed over or dismissed as partisan attacks. Dion George, a minister who was actively cracking down on the captive lion breeding industry, was ousted and replaced with Willie Aucamp,” he said.
George said he had repeatedly declined requests for the meetings.
Leon said Resolve lobbying the DA ministers to meet its clients was not an attempt to capture the state.
“State capture was the criminal subversion of public institutions for private enrichment, conducted in secret and in defiance of the law.
“The work of helping a lawful business make its case to the government, in the open and on the record, is its precise opposite,” he said.
The ANC said the allegations should be addressed openly and transparently in the interests of maintaining public confidence in the government.
“For too long, the DA has sought to frame corruption as a phenomenon primarily associated with black-led governments and institutions, while projecting administrations under its control as inherently more ethical and accountable.
“This selective political narrative has contributed to the harmful perception that corruption is linked to race rather than to individual criminal conduct and systemic governance failures.
“They (Steenhuisen’s allegations) therefore warrant the same level of scrutiny and accountability that the DA has consistently demanded of others,” read an ANC statement.
DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis said he was focused on steadily building a party capable of winning a national election, and the trust of millions of South Africans who have never voted for the party before.