Forestry, fisheries & the environment minister Dion George defied the DA’s federal executive this week when he was asked to replace axed deputy minister of trade & industry Andrew Whitfield in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s executive.
Two insiders present at this week’s FedEx meeting said George told the meeting he considered the post a demotion and would rather focus on his work in the party, where he is head of finances.
The Sunday Times understands that DA leader John Steenhuisen informed President Cyril Ramaphosa he would be making changes to his party’s deployees in the coalition government during their bilateral meeting at the GNU retreat this week.
George was among three ministers the Sunday Times initially reported in September being under alleged consideration for the axe from the DA component of the cabinet.
George declined to comment on Saturday, referring queries to Steenhuisen, who also would not say anything about the matter.
Steenhuisen yesterday said: “It would be premature of me as the DA federal leader to discuss any matter relating to this until the president has applied his mind.”
Insiders said George had been underperforming and failing to connect with stakeholders in his department to boost the DA’s prospects in the local government elections in 2026.
“He just doesn’t understand that to be a minister you have to work and also be seen to be working. He doesn’t have any connection with the relevant stakeholders, and his reports back to the party are underwhelming,” one of the insiders said.
But other insiders said George was not an underperformer, but there were political differences between him and Steenhuisen in the run-up to the party’s elective conference in 2026.
Another insider said George was upset by Steenhuisen’s offer of a deputy minister post.
“For us, we consider the trade & industry department as a key ministry that requires a senior leader. We tried to make him understand that. He is senior in the party and runs its finances, but he doesn’t have a constituency in the party to fight for him.”
George’s position was initially offered to Dr Ivan Meyer, currently the Western Cape’s minister of agriculture. Meyer declined the position, the insiders said. They added that with Meyer the party wanted to appease its coloured constituency, as well as ensure it had a capable person in the position.
[George] doesn’t have any connection with the relevant stakeholders, and his reports back to the party are underwhelming.
— Anonymous DA insider
The Sunday Times previously reported that Steenhuisen was considering replacing Whitfield with a coloured leader to maintain favour with that constituency. The DA is facing strong competition from the Patriotic Alliance, which has proved popular with coloured voters.
“Meyer declined the post. He said he didn’t want to leave the Western Cape and argued he was running a successful department. He said he had just found his footing in the Western Cape, the department was stable, and he wouldn’t want to leave now. So that is how other options had to come onto the table.”
The insiders said the party then settled on Willie Aucamp, the party’s current spokesperson. There were no objections to Aucamp’s deployment, with the majority at FedEx having confidence in him as a hard worker.
“Willie is a hard worker who comes from humble beginnings in the Northern Cape. He knows the challenges those people in forestry face, and he will be able to deal with them. He is very capable.”
The insiders said Steenhuisen told FedEx he would be writing to Ramaphosa to inform him that Alexandra Abrahams would be Whitfield’s replacement.
Ramaphosa’s spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, declined to comment, saying the president would make his announcement when he was ready to do so.
Abrahams is a political unknown — but is likely to appeal to the coloured community and is also female.
“No-one knows much about her, but we are told she is capable. She has been the [parliamentary committee] deputy spokesperson for social development for some time under [chair] Bridget Masango. She comes from the Cape Flats, so she knows that community, and that will be good for the DA going forward. I was told she openly supported Mpho Phalatse against Steenhuisen, but [there is] no proof of it. And she is a close ally of JP Smith in Cape Town,” one of the insiders said.
According to parliament’s website, Abrahams has an honours degree in political science from Stellenbosch University and an undergraduate degree in international relations.
“We were told Ramaphosa would likely announce the reshuffle this coming week. They had agreed with John at the retreat, and the president was happy to make the changes. We expected the announcement would be made on Sunday, but with the president’s travels maybe he will [do it] on Monday. At this stage, we don’t know. All we know is that the DA has supplied the president with the names, and he has agreed to the reshuffle,” the insider said.
Steenhuisen has been delaying naming a candidate to replace Whitfield, causing some inside and outside the DA to question his intentions.
While George did not have a strong constituency, the insiders said, his axing could be used against Steenhuisen by those wishing to challenge him for his position at the DA’s elective conference in April. It was an open secret in the party that Steenhuisen was keen to purge more ministers to make way for his allies, who would then support his move for re-election next year, they said.
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