Overview
- John Steenhuisen confirmed he will not seek another term as Democratic Alliance leader ahead of the party’s April elective conference.
- He says the decision was his alone and that he wishes to remain agriculture minister, citing the difficulty of balancing the role with party leadership and family time.
- Anonymous party sources link his withdrawal to tensions with federal council chair Helen Zille, a claim Zille publicly rejects as false.
- His tenure has faced scrutiny over the government’s response to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak and reports about use of a party-issued credit card.
- Attention now shifts to prospective successors Geordin Hill-Lewis and Solly Msimanga, with Hill-Lewis widely viewed in reporting as the frontrunner and commentators questioning if he would try to keep the Cape Town mayoralty.