The leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) John Steenhuisen is expected to announce on Thursday that he will not seek re-election as party leader during their elective conference in April this year.
The announcement comes amid internal tensions in the DA, including a public spat between Steenhuisen and former minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Dion George.
This after Steenhuisen called for the removal of George as minister, accusing him of incompetence, with George also accusing him of interfering in the running of the department.
George also accused Steenhuisen of being captured by the African National Congress in the Government of National Unity, and abandoned party policies to please President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The DA leader was also accused of misusing the party’s credit card, although he was later cleared by the party’s internal probe.
In a statement, the party announced that its leader “will address members of the media concerning matters of national importance and public interest.”
This was followed by a statement by Steenhuisen on his social media, which read “Tomorrow at 10am, I will make an announcement of national importance. Until you see me outlining the full set of facts tomorrow, avoid speculation.”
Meanwhile, the Director of the School for Government Studies at the North West University, Professor Kedibone Phago, says the announcement was expected, as he was losing ground internally.
It is something that was always coming, and maybe the tension between George, was already an indication that Steenhuisen is losing ground in the DA.
For some obvious reasons of the latest scandal about the abuse of the party’s credit card.
But we also know that in most cases, he gets to be taken to task because of his lack of university qualifications.
That has always been something lingering on his head within the DA and obviously in the broader public,” said Phago.
Furthermore, Phago believes that there might be other factors that influenced Steenhuisen’s decision to exit the leadership race.
“I think because the DA is strategizing for their role in South Africa going forward, you can see that the deployment of Helen Zille to Johannesburg, is very intentional because it’s trying to attract the black middle class.
If the DA wins the Joburg Municipality in the next coming local elections, the focus will then be to make sure that there’s service delivery, and if that works out, the black middle class would be able to vote DA en masse.
Part of the reason Steenhuisen is also not running, is probably because he would not be able to fit into that strategy very well because of the allegations he’s facing, including education,” remarked the Professor.
Phago said the imminent announcement by Steenhuisen, would not have a huge impact on the GNU, as it is a personal choice, and not a party position.
“If there was a party position, then indeed, that would have had an impact.
It would not necessarily be a material factor to the GNU now, maybe in the future when they start campaigning for the elections.
At this point in time, I don’t think that his resignation would have a dent on the GNU arrangement at all,” added Phago.
