By: Abigail Visagie

…Claims ‘mission accomplished’ as he prepares to step down at national party congress

“It’s mission accomplished”…These words were echoed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader, John Steenhuisen, as he announced that he will not be standing for re-election as the party’s leader at the upcoming National Congress in April 2026.

Steenhuisen took the stage in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, on 4 February, to formally announce that he will not be standing for re-election at the end of his term in April. Speculations and various media outlets speculate that the leader’s poor financial decision may be the root cause of his decision, especially since an ambitious Steenhuisen has only held the position for six years.

Various reports revealed that Steenhuisen had suffered a default judgment of R150 000 for credit card debt, subsequently prompting Dion George, DA’s former federal finance chair, to revoke the card. 

In typical Steenhuisen style, the leader boasted about the achievements he has collected in terms, mentioning that during his term, he led the DA into national government and further secured cabinet seats such as Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Basic Education, Minister of Public Works and much more.

“I have delivered everything that I promised my party when I was first elected as Federal Leader back in 2019.

“I proudly picked up the party’s banner when its internal polling was down to just 16% and after the media declared the ‘Death of the DA’,” said Steenhuisen.

Steenhuisen mentioned that for the rest of this term of office, he will be placing all his time and effort as Minister of Agriculture on defeating the catastrophic Foot-And-Mouth disease to pursue mass vaccination and to ensure that this is the last outbreak the country sees.

“The DA I inherited was reading its own obituary in a country that was in rapid decline. The DA I leave behind, co-governs a country that is firmly on the up,” concluded Steenhuisen.