Political turmoil in the DA: Steenhuisen accused of using state resources to purge his political opponents
DA leader John Steenhuisen had a default judgment granted against him in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court in May for unpaid personal credit card debt of nearly R150,000. Now Steenhuisen, who is also Agriculture Minister, is in a fierce public war with his fellow Federal Executive (FedEx) leader Dion George.
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The DA leader John Steenhuisen has been accused of applying ‘ÄNC tactics’ to purge his political opponents ahead of the party’s elective conference next year.
Steenhuisen, who is also Agriculture Minister, is in a fierce public war with his fellow Federal Executive (FedEx) and a senior party leader Dion George. The DA leader is believed to have engineered George’s dismissal as a Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment by president Cyril Ramaphosa, who replaced him with Willem Aucamp at the request of Steenhuisen. George is Federal chairperson responsible for the party's finances.
Although the FedEx cited poor performance as a reason for asking Ramaphosa to sack George, political analyst Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast said a factional battle is playing out in the DA, ahead of next year’s party conference.
He said this is clearly a political battle where Steenhuisen 'is purging those who he feels are standing in his way' to get re-elected to lead the party again next year.
Breakfast said it was ironic that Steenhuisen was employing the ANC’s tactics 'of using state resources to fight political battles' - something which Steenhuisen had criticised in the past.
“This is clearly a factional battle between the two DA leaders. Steenhuisen is purging those he feels are not supporting his campaign to get re-elected in next year’s conference. It is interesting that Steenhuisen is using state resources to fight his political battles, and particularly using Ramaphosa as his messenger to get rid of his political opponents,” said Breakfast.
In an apparent tit-for-tat move, George is believed to have leaked Steenhuisen’s personal financial problems to the media. The Agriculture Minister has reportedly been slapped with a default judgment for failing to pay R150,000 accumulated on his personal credit card. Weekend newspapers also reported that he allegedly used the party credit cards to purchase food items for his family.. George also blocked the card, in his capacity as the party’s “treasurer”.
The fallout between the two senior leaders forced the Chairperson of the Federal Executive, Helen Zille to intervene and reprimand them. The party leadership convened a special meeting on Sunday where the issue was discussed.
In a statement Zille issued after the meeting she said the Fedex resolved to refer the matter to the party’s Federal Legal Commission to institute a full investigation into the issues involved, focusing on alleged violations of the DA’s constitution and rules in the genesis and progression of this dispute.
“The Fedex also issued an injunction to everyone involved, either directly or peripherally, to stop prosecuting their arguments through the media, and allow the party’s processes to take their course,” read the statement.
George said that he is not permitted to 'comment at this stage' while attempts to reach Steenhuisen were unsuccessful.
However Steenhuisen's media secretary Charity McCord made reference to Zille's statement and said there was an agreement that there will no further public engagement on the matter.