Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen and his former chief of staff Roman Cabanac are headed to court as Cabanac fights to be reinstated to his R1.2m a year position, arguing that his termination in June was unlawful.
Cabanac and his lawyers gave Steenhuisen and the agriculture department until August 22 for him to be returned to his job. If that failed, they indicated they would head to court to claim loss of income damages to the tune of just over R5m, covering the five-year term he would have served from August 2024 to August 2029.
In a letter to Steenhuisen, Cabanac’s lawyers stated that their client was informed of the intention to terminate him for “unspecified state security reasons”, which was executed in June.
Cabanac has argued that the process followed by Steenhuisen and his department was flawed, as they removed him over reasons unrelated to performance.
Cabanac apparently was axed because he could not obtain a security clearance certificate required for his job, because of his dual citizenship. Cabanac was born in France.
His lawyers further argued that the process followed in firing him was in breach of the Public Service Act.
Steenhuisen courted controversy shortly after joining cabinet last year when he appointed Cabanac, who holds an LLB degree, as his chief of staff despite his track record of making racist comments on social media and podcasts.
It took the DA leader nine months between September 2024 and June 2025 to fire Cabanac after the controversial figure refused to step down when asked to do so.
His appointment did not sit well with other senior leaders of the DA, who immediately put pressure on Steenhuisen for him to remove Cabanac from his office.
Steenhuisen, through his spokesperson Joylene van Wyk, on Wednesday said they are ready to legally defend the matter.
It took the DA leader nine months between September 2024 and June 2025 to fire Cabanac after the controversial figure refused to step down when asked to do so.
When Steenhuisen finally dropped him in June, Cabanac told the Sunday Times that he was considering his legal options.
A ministerial chief of staff serves at the pleasure of their political principals, with their tenure linked to their five-year government term. But they may be terminated if their minister vacates or is removed from office within that five-year term.
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