Outgoing DA Leader John Steenhuisen Eyes Continued Role in Government

Outgoing Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has acknowledged that his political future will ultimately be decided by the party’s next federal leader, but he has made it clear he is not planning a quiet exit from the national stage.

Steenhuisen, who announced earlier this month that he would not seek a third term as DA leader at the party’s upcoming federal congress in April, said on Friday that his continued participation in the Government of National Unity (GNU) will be determined by his successor.

As Minister of Agriculture a portfolio he has held since the DA entered the coalition government in 2024, Steenhuisen expressed his desire to remain in the role but stressed that the decision rests with the incoming party leadership.

“I would like to stay on as minister of agriculture,” Steenhuisen said, but added, “the choice of who serves in the executive is the new leader’s prerogative.”

The veteran politician dismissed suggestions that he had been forced out of the leadership race, calling such claims “nonsense.” He reiterated his commitment to the DA, where he has been a member since his youth, and said he plans to continue serving the party “in whatever capacity I can.”

Steenhuisen’s tenure as agriculture minister has been dominated by a nationwide response to South Africa’s foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. This has included a mass vaccination campaign launched in KwaZulu-Natal this month, aimed at inoculating a significant portion of the national herd.

With the DA’s leadership race now underway and figures such as Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis having formally entered the contest Steenhuisen’s future in the cabinet and within the party will be among the key decisions facing delegates at the April congress.