Matisonn: Steenhuisen clears the way for Geordin Hill-Lewis

Key topics:Steenhuisen exits DA race, clearing path for Hill-Lewis leadershipSarupen tipped as next DA chair as party gains amid ANC declineDA seeks renewal while managing Steenhuisen probes and election risks.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By John Matisonn.DA leader John Steenhuisen has withdrawn from the party’s leadership race, paving the way for a new generation of DA leaders likely to be headed by Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis. Deputy Finance Minister Ashor Sarupen is the likely next DA federal chairperson, succeeding Helen Zille, who will focus full time on Johannesburg.Steenhuisen’s announcement ends most, but not all the DA’s reputational risks from bad publicity at a time when opinion polls were pointing to substantial DA gains. The DA’s growth in popularity in the wake of the ANC’s continuing decline is driven by Zille’s game-changing decision to run for Johannesburg mayor against a background of an improving economic outlook under the Government of National Unity the DA is part of. Steenhuisen and Zille will continue in their party roles until the national DAy congress in April. Both their positions are likely to be contested, but Hill-Lewis and Sarupen are both strong favourites to succeed them..Read more:.TCS: Hill-Lewis tipped to lead the DA after Steenhuisen.Steenhuisen choreographed his exit with a speech surrounded by his early allies and supporters in Durban, where he was born and started his political career in the town council. Declaring “mission accomplished” he said his goals as leader had been achieved by getting the DA into national government, and as agriculture minister he would now throw all his efforts into ending what he called the biggest foot and mouth disease outbreak in South African history.Unmentioned was the DA’s investigation into whether he brought the party into disrepute in the way he removed Dr Deon George from the cabinet, sparking an ugly public spat between them that included allegations that Steenhuisen had removed George while interfering in his portfolio on behalf of animal hunting interests.The DA investigation is ongoing after Steenhuisen was cleared of George’s allegations that Steenhuisen fraudulently used party money. The ongoing investigation will determine whether he brought the party into disrepute by his public statements about George. The investigation could also comment on whether Steenhuisen’s personal financial woes, including a default judgment granted against him in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court in May for unpaid personal credit card debt of almost R150,000, hurt the party. Hill-Lewis and Sarupen are both in their 30s and worked their way up in several positions in the party. Hill-Lewis, 39, has proved a popular and effective mayor in Cape Town, where he is likely to stay while leading the DA nationally. He has committed Cape Town to major infrastructure expansion, and his party faces significant challenges in a number of towns in municipal elections this year as the Patriotic Alliance has gained ground at the DA’s expense among coloured voters in several by-elections.While the DA is gaining support nationally, with a recent poll placing them within striking distance of the ANC at 32%, the allegations against Steenhuisen had the potential to undermine the DA’s most important vote-getting card, that it governs well compared to the ANC.His focus now on his position as Minister of Agriculture, devoting full attention to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, is urgent and necessary since some farmers say he was too slow in recognising and addressing the problem. Hundreds of millions of rands are at risk as infected cows cannot be marketed and many may die.Sarupen, 37, has been seen as a good technocrat in his role as Deputy Finance minister, and he has indicated he will resign to devote his full time to the party position if he feels it necessary.This week the DA almost doubled its in two Western Cape wards, taking both council seats from the ANC, whose incumbents defected to the DA. This continues the trend of ANC collapse in the province.The DA is campaigning to eliminate smaller parties whose voters might otherwise back the DA.

Matisonn: Steenhuisen clears the way for Geordin Hill-Lewis

Key topics:

Related Stories