Steenhuisen was neither pushed nor did he jump, says loyalist

One of outgoing DA leader John Steenhuisen’s staunchest loyalists and confidants has insisted that the agriculture minister was not pushed, nor did he jump, from the party’s leadership race.

Public works and infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson, who is also a long-serving Steenhuisen campaign manager at the DA level, has suggested that Steenhuisen would have been re-elected comfortably to his third term at the party’s upcoming federal congress scheduled for April.

Steenhuisen has dominated the headlines this week after he announced on Wednesday that he had decided against seeking a third term as DA leader, so that he can give his undivided attention to dealing with the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak that is ravaging the cattle-farming industry.

But some within the DA have intimated that Steenhuisen resolved to step aside after relentless pressure from influential party figures and critical outside stakeholders, such as funders, after allegations that he had abused his party-allocated credit card.

However, at a Cape Town Press Club gathering, Macpherson said he was confident that his ally would have mopped the floor with whoever sought to challenge him had he decided to stand for re-election.

He said claims that Steenhuisen had been put under duress to drop his plans to run for a third term were simply untrue.

“I know John well enough to know that no one pushes John out. John took the decision on his own accord, putting the country and the party first,” Macpherson said.

If John had stood he would have won and I think that it takes remarkable political intuition and maturity to know that even if you can win the contest, maybe the party needs someone to take it to the next level.

—  Dean Macpherson

Macpherson, who is also the provincial chairperson of the DA KwaZulu-Natal chapter, which until this week was backing their homeboy Steenhuisen, said his conviction was based on his performance at their previous congress in 2023 where he was elected by 83% of the 2,500 delegates, and their latest canvassing.

“If John had stood he would have won, and I think that it takes remarkable political intuition and maturity to know that even if you can win the contest, maybe the party needs someone to take it to the next level.

“And I wonder how many political leaders would have made that judgment call. We have some political leaders who have been in power for 30 years in this country. We have some political leaders who will never face a contest because internal elections are banned in their party.”

Rejecting suggestions that DA donors lobbied for Steenhuisen’s ouster, Macpherson said this was not true.

“I am not aware, as a confidant of John’s, that donors dictate any decision on how the party runs. I think that if donors did dictate the decisions of the party, that would be a slippery slope where he who pays the biggest cheque gets to have the biggest sway.

“Donors are an important part of any political party, they are able to express their views on any matter…but they do not, as far as I am aware, dictate policy and leadership. They do not dictate who is made a mayor or anything like that.”

Sunday Times