Steenhuisen demoted, tainted Pule appointed — mixed messages in Ramaphosa's cabinet reshuffle

President Cyril Ramaphosa reshuffled his cabinet last night at the request of the Democratic Alliance, two months before the November 4 local government elections. The changes are largely an internal DA housekeeping exercise following Geordin Hill-Lewis's replacement of John Steenhuisen as party leader — Steenhuisen moves from Agriculture Minister to Deputy Minister of Trade. The biggest surprise is that despite his damaging outburst last week, Steenhuisen will still be drawing a deputy minister’s salary. The DA’s David Maynier takes the Forestry portfolio; Willem Aucamp shifts to Agriculture. But the reshuffle's most contentious move is Ramaphosa's own: appointing Dina Pule as Social Development Minister. Pule was fired in 2013 amid corruption allegations and later fined by parliament for misspending public funds. The DA is likely not amused..By Mike Cohen.South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reshuffled his cabinet after the Democratic Alliance, the second-biggest party in the governing coalition, requested personnel changes to ministries it had been assigned.The changes will affect six ministries, including agriculture, forestry and trade, the presidency said in a statement on Tuesday. The revamp comes before local government elections on Nov. 4. Willie Aucamp, previously the forestry, fisheries and environment minister, was assigned the agriculture portfolio. He succeeds John Steenhuisen, who was named deputy minister of trade, industry and competition in place of Alexandra Abrahams.David Maynier, who oversaw education in the Western Cape province, will take over Aucamp’s portfolio, while Abrahams becomes deputy electricity minister. Lawmaker Yusuf Cassim was named deputy higher education minister and Jack Bloom, who served as a legislator in the central Gauteng province, was appointed as deputy water and sanitation minister.Steenhuisen was demoted two months after he was replaced by Geordin Hill-Lewis as leader of the DA, one of the 10 parties in the so-called government of national unity formed after Ramaphosa’s African National Congress lost its parliamentary majority in 2024 elections. “We are trying to build a party that is capable of winning a national election,” Hill-Lewis told the Cape Town Press Club on June 24. “If we are going to win the confidence of many millions of South Africans who have not yet voted for us in the past, we have to show them that we are going to be unmistakably, unashamedly, radically different from that which we are trying to replace, and part of that difference is showing that we are not going to avert our gaze from doing difficult things just because they are difficult.” In addition, Ramaphosa named Dina Pule as social development minister. The latter post has stood vacant since Sisisi Tolashe was fired on May 14 after becoming embroiled in a succession of scandals. The Democratic Alliance criticized the appointment of Pule, who previously served as the nation’s communications minister before being dismissed in 2013 amid allegations of corruption. She was later suspended and fined by parliament after an investigation found she had misspent public funds..Read more:.DA leader John Steenhuisen 'won’t seek reelection' .“The DA believes that the social development is so crucial a portfolio, with such a significant budget, that it demands a minister of impeccable credentials — not one found to have previously betrayed her oath of office and to have brought parliament into disrepute,” the party said in a statement..© 2026 Bloomberg L.P..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 every morning on 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.

Steenhuisen demoted, tainted Pule appointed — mixed messages in Ramaphosa's cabinet reshuffle

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