South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is doing everything in his power to placate John Steenhuisen, the leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA). Intense negotiations are underway to prevent the pro-business party from destabilizing the fragile government coalition.
John Steenhuisen, leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), struggles to make his voice heard within the newly formed coalition in South Africa, which comprises ten parties.
Now serving as Minister of Agriculture, he relies on a close-knit group of loyalists to challenge the long-standing dominance of the African National Congress (ANC). Since entering politics in the 1990s, John Steenhuisen has steadily climbed the ranks.
A product of the Democratic Alliance, a party historically rooted in the liberal white ranks of the apartheid-era parliament, he advocates for a center-right alternative to the ANC, which has held power for nearly three decades. His political journey began at the age of 19, driven by frustration over what he perceived as the mismanagement of South Africa’s potential.
Although he enrolled in law and political science studies, he never completed his degree, a fact that has drawn ridicule on social media and criticism from political opponents. Defending his unconventional path, he says, “I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a public representative,” dismissing his detractors.
Elected as a municipal councilor in Durban at just 22, he quickly became a rising star in the DA.
However, his career was marred in 2010 by a personal scandal when an extramarital affair forced him to resign as the regional leader of the DA in KwaZulu-Natal.
Despite the controversy, he rebounded and later married his partner from that period, Terry Kass Beaumont, with whom he has three daughters.
In 2011, Steenhuisen entered the national Parliament, where he gradually established himself as one of the leading voices of the opposition. By 2019, he had risen to become the leader of the DA, a party long seen as representing the interests of South Africa's white, Asian, and mixed-race minorities, which collectively make up less than 20% of the country’s population.
The ANC’s Nemesis
In a country still deeply scarred by racial inequality, Steenhuisen has taken controversial stances on the ANC’s economic transformation policies. He has been particularly critical of racial quotas in the workplace, describing them as “crude” and ineffective. However, his rhetoric struggles to resonate with the majority of Black voters, who are often the hardest hit by poverty and inequality.
Despite consolidating his authority with two landslide re-elections as DA leader, John Steenhuisen remains a polarizing figure. Some analysts argue that his position owes much to Helen Zille, the DA’s influential former leader, who continues to play a pivotal role in the party’s strategic decisions.
Steenhuisen has ramped up his criticism of the ANC and far-left parties like the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). He warns against a potential alliance between these two parties, which he describes as an “apocalyptic scenario” for South Africa.
