With just three months to go before the party’s elective conference in April, DA leader John Steenhuisen has given the strongest indication yet that he wants a third term, despite damaging allegations of party credit card abuse.
Speaking to Sunday Times on the sidelines of his media engagement with members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery Association in Cape Town, Steenhuisen said despite efforts to tarnish his image as DA leader, he remained “proud” of his leadership of the blue party, hinting that he was keen to continue building on the gains he achieved since his first election as party leader in 2019.
The former DA chief whip was first elected on an interim basis to his current position in 2019 after the resignation of Mmusi Maimane.
A year later, he was elected to his first full term, another one in 2023 and is now vying for a third at the DA national congress scheduled for April 2026.
But this comes amid efforts to derail his campaign, with former DA member Dion George ― a former minister who also served as the party’s finance chief ― alleging that Steenhuisen had been abusing his party-allocated credit card.
The DA last week cleared Steenhuisen of party financial abuse.
Asked if he was running for re-election, amid party rumours that he was being lobbied to step aside, Steenhuisen said while leadership nominations had not been opened in the DA, he was determined to finish what he started in 2019.
“I was elected with a majority, and I intend to fulfil my mandate with that majority. People are entitled to their opinions. I have had opponents in every internal election, and I have been able to see them off quite well, so I am very confident of my leadership of the party and what I have done with the party and where I have built the party from the one I inherited in 2019. It was a broken, derelict shell after the leader had walked off the job and slammed the party,” he said.
Steenhuisen cited the DA being an integral part of the government of national unity post 2024 elections as one of his major achievements as party leader.
“Senior party personalities met, picked [The DA] up, got it back into fighting status and led it into national government, and that’s a very solid achievement from what I inherited to what I am taking into congress in this election.
“We will make announcements when nominations open, and it’s just not good form to make pronouncements until the nomination’s dates … I don’t campaign before nominations, it’s poor form.
“[But] I am very proud of my leadership track record [compared] to where we come from, what we have achieved after many in the media and the country wrote off the DA … not only are we not dead, we are now a core player in national government, and that’s something we are very proud of.”
DA leadership nominations only open on February 27, closing on March 27, with its federal congress due to take place in April in Gauteng.
So far, Steenhuisen is in a one-horse race as no other DA leader has stood to challenge, though there are efforts to persuade Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis to run against him.
But Hill-Lewis, citing his friendship with Steenhuisen, has repeatedly stated he would not enter the race as long as his mate was in it.
At the same time, Steenhuisen indicated he was worried whether the DA would retain majority control of its governance crown jewel, the City of Cape Town, warning party leaders and voters against complacency.
“The biggest problem in the City of Cape Town is complacency. I think people have got used to 15 years of excellent governance and are tending to take it for granted.
“And I would encourage them to look at what’s happened in the City of Johannesburg and Durban and make sure to vote.
“Because, as we have seen, a DA majority is not guaranteed.”
The DA leader said its own internal and other polls showed that his party and the ANC were going into this year’s election race “neck and neck”.
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