DA chief whip John Steenhuisen has emerged as a frontrunner to replace the party’s outgoing federal executive chair, James Selfe.
This is according to DA insiders familiar with the horse-trading that has ensued in the party after an announcement by DA leader Mmusi Maimane that Selfe would be stepping down after occupying the position for 19 years.
Selfe is due to take up a new position as head of the DA governance unit. The unit will give strategic political guidance to the party’s deployees in municipalities such as Tshwane, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay and Cape Town, and in the Western Cape provincial government.
Insiders indicated that Steenhuisen was seen as suitable for the position, which would make him the party’s chief administrator, because he was a rounded politician with experience as a municipal councillor, a member of the provincial legislature and an MP in his second stint as chief whip.
The insiders said Steenhuisen was also prepared to step down as DA chief whip to take up the position.
Those who have been mentioned as possible successors to Steenhuisen are newly elected deputy chief whip Jacques Julius and Natasha Mazzone, an experienced MP and DA deputy federal chair.
Approached for comment on Friday, Steenhuisen confirmed he was being lobbied for the position and was seriously considering it.
The new federal executive chair is a powerful position. The job includes managing the party’s day-to-day affairs.
The new chair is due to be elected at the DA federal council scheduled to take place in October.
The federal council is the DA’s highest decision-making body between its national congresses.
“I have been approached to stand and I am consulting and considering it very carefully,” said Steenhuisen.
“I think I have a great deal of experience and energy to offer the position. The election will in all likelihood only take place in October, so I’m taking my time to think it over.”
Athol Trollip, a former DA parliamentary leader who is the federal council’s chair, and MP Glynnis Breytenbach have also been mentioned as among others being considered for the position.
Trollip and Breytenbach have denied that they are eyeing the position or that they have been asked to stand.
Steenhuisen’s backers for the post have also said he was their preferred candidate because he had emerged as one of the supporters of Maimane’s efforts to reform the DA.
The party has embarked on a review of its systems, policies and operations after a poor showing in the May 8 election.
The party’s representation in parliament dropped from 89 seats to 84 as it struggled with a political identity crisis amid divisive leadership squabbles.