The Democratic Alliance, the second-largest party in South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU), has launched a sweeping reshuffle of its executive team, demoting former party leader John Steenhuisen from his role as minister of agriculture.
The structural adjustment, engineered by newly elected DA Leader and Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, follows severe pressure from the agricultural sector over the government’s handling of a highly contagious Foot-and-Mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. Steenhuisen has been assigned to the more junior role of deputy minister of trade, industry, and competition, pending a formal sign-off by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Willie Aucamp, an experienced farmer who has served as an MP since 2024, will exit his role as forestry, fisheries, and environment minister to take over the crucial agriculture portfolio. The leadership change comes at a sensitive time for South Africa’s multi-party coalition, where the DA holds six ministerial and six deputy ministerial seats.
“It is my judgement that the renewed team announced today will strengthen the DA’s contribution to government and give better effect to the mandate received from 3.5 million voters in the 2024 elections,” Hill-Lewis said in a formal statement on Wednesday. “These changes demonstrate DA values in action.”
Outbreak Economic Fallout
The transition highlights the intensifying economic and political fallout from the FMD crisis, an illness affecting cloven-hoofed animals that has effectively penetrated all nine of South Africa’s provinces. The nationwide outbreak has triggered roughly R80 billion ($4.4 billion) in losses, according to industry calculations, with the Free State province alone seeing hundreds of cases and millions in regional losses.
The Transvaal Agricultural Union (TLU SA), an influential farming group, strongly endorsed Steenhuisen’s removal. Group representatives pointed to deep bottlenecks in vaccine distribution and a rigid government stance against partnering with private healthcare infrastructure to curb transmission.
“TLU was part of the task team that worked directly with Steenhuisen and the government,” said Henry Geldenhuys, TLU SA’s representative. “We made several attempts to move the rollout of the vaccine to the private sector, but there were constant obstacles. As a result, farmers are suffering losses… Steenhuisen and the government dragged their feet.”
Public tension peaked recently after a leaked email originating from Steenhuisen’s chief of staff, Jana le Roux, was widely circulated. The message showed a formal request for government intervention from a local farmer forwarded to staff members with a note describing the appeal as being shared “for some amusement.” Steenhuisen later distanced himself from the email, calling it “in bad taste” and confirming that an apology had been requested.
Broader Realignments
Beyond the agricultural shift, Hill-Lewis requested several key personnel updates to optimize the DA’s footprint across critical infrastructure and state portfolios:
- Environment: David Maynier, currently the Western Cape education minister, will take over Aucamp’s old post as minister of forestry, fisheries, and the environment.
- Energy & Water: Alexandra Abrahams shifts to deputy minister of energy and electricity, replacing Samantha Graham-Maré, who exits the national executive. Jack Bloom, a prominent health advocate from Gauteng, enters national government as deputy minister of water and sanitation.
- Education: Higher education deputy minister Mimmy Gondwe will be replaced by Yusuf Cassim, the DA’s provincial chairperson for the Eastern Cape.
While acknowledging the pivot, Hill-Lewis defended portions of Steenhuisen’s legacy, noting that during his brief tenure, he “spearheaded the expansion of market access for SA’s agricultural products” and initiated structural baselines to procure emergency animal vaccines.
