Ramaphosa drawn into DA reshuffle as Steenhuisen set to lose agriculture portfolio

What Hill-Lewis asked Ramaphosa to approve

According to IOL, Hill-Lewis has written to President Ramaphosa asking for a series of role changes within the DA’s allocation of cabinet posts. The party is the second-biggest in the governing national unity arrangement and holds six ministries and six deputy ministries.

The changes Hill-Lewis is said to be asking for, as reported by IOL, include:

• Replacing John Steenhuisen as agriculture minister with Willie Aucamp;
• Moving Steenhuisen into the smaller role of deputy minister of trade, industry and competition;
• Moving David Maynier into Aucamp’s current post;
• Shifting Alexandra Abrahams from deputy trade minister to deputy minister of energy and electricity, replacing Samantha Graham-Maré;
• Bringing Jack Bloom into government as deputy minister of water and sanitation, replacing Isaac Seitlholo;
• Removing Mimmy Gondwe as deputy minister of higher education and replacing her with Yusuf Cassim.

Process and timing

According to IOL, the DA’s federal council was being briefed on the proposed changes on Wednesday morning. An insider told IOL:

“We will have a meeting about it this morning. It should be made official after that.”

Why Steenhuisen is affected

According to IOL, Steenhuisen stepped down as DA leader in April after internal pressure tied in part to his handling of the foot-and-mouth disease crisis. Hill-Lewis, who took over as leader and is also Cape Town mayor, had given Steenhuisen roughly two months after the April leadership change to show progress on agriculture before deciding whether to act.

Immediate expectations for Aucamp

According to IOL, Willie Aucamp has reportedly been told that, if confirmed in the agriculture post, his initial tasks would be to settle pending court cases over foot-and-mouth disease vaccine policy and to begin talks with farming groups about the outbreak.

What this means for government

The proposed moves would reconfigure several DA-held cabinet roles and would require approval from the president to take effect. According to IOL, the changes were initiated by Hill-Lewis and communicated to President Ramaphosa in a formal request.