When outgoing DA leader John Steenhuisen announced he would not seek re-election, he said took the decision on his own accord. However, political analysts say the move was shaped by a longer period of internal pressure, funder unease and the strains of leading the party into government for the first time at national level.
Speaking on Politics Weekly, veteran journalist and analyst Peter Bruce said Steenhuisen’s exit could not be understood as a simple personal decision.
“I’m sure there was push and pull in that decision, maybe in equal measure, I can’t be sure,” Bruce said.
“There was certainly pressure on him from inside the party for almost two years and this is the result.”
Bruce said dissatisfaction had grown not only within party structures but also among donors.
“The funders wanted another leader and they’re now going to get one. We don’t know who.”
GNU changed the DA, but not the way it hoped
Much of the pressure, analysts argued, followed the DA’s decision to enter the government of national unity (GNU) after the 2024 election, a move Steenhuisen led and defended as a strategic breakthrough for the party.
Political analyst Khanyi Magubane said joining the GNU gave the DA unprecedented proximity to national power, with control of major portfolios including home affairs, basic education and agriculture. But she argued the political cost of governing was underestimated.
“What I think happened is that the electorate were not brought along with it to understand there’s a difference between party and state,” Magubane said.
She said Steenhuisen’s role in cabinet required compromise and moderation, which many voters interpreted as political surrender.
“We eventually saw them through John starting to reach a compromise, starting to reach the middle point, and that’s why we saw John settling in, softening the tone of the DA.”
That shift, she argued, alienated parts of the DA’s support base, particularly voters who had backed the party for its combative opposition politics.
Bruce agreed that while entering the GNU was defensible on balance, it came at a cost to Steenhuisen’s authority inside the party.
“He wanted to keep the GNU stable, but in doing so he angered a lot of his potential supporters in the party and certainly the funders,” he said.
Bruce argued the DA struggled to balance governing with maintaining a distinct opposition voice.
“It must be possible to be in the GNU, but also not to be quiet and let things slip through,” he said.
He said Steenhuisen’s leadership style — particularly tight message control within the parliamentary caucus — had also weakened internal support over time.
The succession question
Attention has shifted to who might succeed Steenhuisen, with Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis widely seen as a frontrunner. Bruce said a leadership contest would be healthy for the party.
“We need to know more about Geordin Hill-Lewis. I don’t want to find it out the day after he becomes leader.”
Both analysts said the next leader would inherit a party facing unresolved tensions: how to remain in government without losing credibility as an opposition force and how to expand beyond its traditional base.
Who is the DA really talking to?
A recurring theme in the discussion was the DA’s difficulty in articulating a clear message to a diverse electorate.
Magubane argued the party continues to speak about black voters in narrow terms.
“When the DA talks about the black voter, it’s always through the eyes of poverty,” she said, adding upwardly mobile black voters, and coloured and Indian constituencies, are often overlooked in the party’s messaging.
Bruce warned that failing to broaden the party’s appeal would cap its growth.
“If you’re just going to hold on to your base, you’re 20% forever,” he said.
The party has scheduled its leadership contest, its elective congress, for April when a new leader will emerge.
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