WATCH | ‘It was difficult’: Beaumont opens up about ex-wife’s cheating scandal with Steenhuisen

ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont has opened up about his struggles with the alleged infidelity of his ex-wife Terry Beaumont and DA leader John Steenhuisen in 2010.

The incident led to Beaumont's departure from the DA's KwaZulu-Natal office to Gauteng.

Beaumont told TimesLIVE he married Terry in 2010, but their marriage was short-lived, ending in divorce only three months later due to the affair. At the time Steenhuisen was the leader of the DA in KwaZulu-Natal and was married to Julia Steenhuisen. He later divorced Julia and married Terry in 2014. Terry was the DA's media liaison at the time.

“I was the provincial director and he [Steenhuisen] was the leader, which is like the president and secretary-general of a party, so we worked together daily. We were very close and interacted very closely, which made things terribly difficult,” he said.

“It was a difficult time, and it was a terrible thing to go through because it was a huge public matter. It had a terrible impact on my family, who are private people. They're not like me. They're not open to having their names splashed like that. It was a difficult thing to go through.

“My reason for leaving was partly informed by that. He had stepped down as DA leader in the province. The decision to move to Gauteng was largely driven by opportunities there. Gauteng was a more interesting province because we had a lot more voters who were mobile in their political choices. The opportunity to go to Gauteng was exciting for me.”

The alleged cheating scandal led to Steenhuisen's resignation as DA leader in KwaZulu-Natal.

Beaumont emphasised the incident does not define him or his political career.

“A lot of people try to make the story about who I am politically in 2024, and I think they do so fairly maliciously because we are talking about 2010, We are talking ancient history.

“I remained in the DA for nine years after that incident. There's certainly nothing about my political choices today that has anything to do with those events.”

He said he and Steenhuisen have moved on and are happy in their respective marriages.

“Those events are ancient history. John is happily married, and I've been married for seven years. In many ways, I think it was a blessing in my life, but it was a difficult thing to go through, certainly not something that framed my politics or who I am.”

TimesLIVE