Outgoing DA leader John Steenhuisen has accepted that his political future now rests with the party’s next boss.
But he is not planning a quiet exit and hopes to remain on as minister of agriculture.
This is despite a growing belief within the party that his days are numbered, a sentiment that loomed over the Eastern Cape provincial congress where he delivered the keynote address on Saturday.
Steenhuisen, who announced that he would not seek re-election for a third term, admitted the decision on whether he remains in government is beyond his control.
“I would like to stay on as minister of agriculture,” he said during a post-congress media briefing.
“But that’s not within my powers or my purview.
“The choice of who serves in the executive is the new leader’s prerogative.
“The new leader must choose the team they go forward with, just as I was given the latitude to choose my own team.
“Anyone who understands how the DA’s internal structures work would know that it is entirely the prerogative of the new leader, and I will respect whatever decision is made.”
Steenhuisen also dismissed suggestions that he had been forced out of the leadership race, describing rumours that he was pushed aside as “nonsense”.
“I’ve read with some hilarity some of the conspiracies doing the rounds — one being that I was pushed out,” he said.
“I’ve been in politics for nearly 35 years, and no one has ever pushed me around, and nobody ever will.
“I’m going nowhere. I’m staying in the DA.
“I’ve been at this party since I was 17 years old. I’ve given the best part of my life to it, and I will continue to do so in whatever capacity I can serve.”
The Eastern Cape congress, attended by about 300 delegates representing 18 constituencies, was held at the Impetus Church on Friday and Saturday.
I’ve been at this party since I was 17 years old. I’ve given the best part of my life to it, and I will continue to do so in whatever capacity I can serve.
While provincial leader Andrew Whitfield has already endorsed Geordin Hill-Lewis as the party’s next leader, some delegates on the sidelines suggested that the “knives” were likely to come out for Steenhuisen after the DA’s national elective conference in April.
Asked about Hill-Lewis, who has emerged as a frontrunner to succeed him, Steenhuisen described the Cape Town mayor as a talented politician, but stopped short of offering an endorsement.
“I think he is an incredibly talented politician,” Steenhuisen said.
“He has demonstrated in Cape Town that he can unite communities and has shown a high degree of political competence.
“But it’s not my job to choose a successor.
“That responsibility rests with the congress of the party, and I won’t be making any endorsements or announcements — certainly not until we know the full field of candidates.”
Steenhuisen also defended his record as minister, arguing that his department had made more progress in tackling foot-and-mouth disease in the past 18 months than in the previous two decades.
“For the very first time in 30 years, SA has a determined strategy — not just to chase foot-and-mouth disease around the country, but to get ahead of it,” he said.
He described the approach as science-led and preventative, rather than reactive.
“It’s science-backed, it’s been developed by veterinarians and academics, and it’s now backed up by large-scale vaccine procurement,” he said.
Steenhuisen said the department had significantly ramped up vaccine imports to support the strategy.
“We imported two million vaccines last year. Last week, one million doses arrived from Biogénesis Bagó, and another 1.5-million are arriving from DOLVET.”
“For the first time, we are importing vaccines at scale.”
He said these interventions marked a decisive break from past approaches.
“More has been done in the last 18 months to combat foot-and-mouth disease and get it behind us than has been done in the last 20 years,” he said.
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