By Anita Dangazele
- John Steenhuisen lost a High Court case on 25 May 2026 over foot-and-mouth disease vaccines and DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has now asked for him to be moved out of Agriculture.
- Willie Aucamp is proposed as the new Agriculture Minister, with four other DA Cabinet and deputy minister positions also changing hands under the reshuffle request.
John Steenhuisen is being moved out of Agriculture. His own party leader asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to reassign him today, 23 days after a High Court judge ruled against him in a case brought by the farmers he was meant to protect.
Steenhuisen only recently handed over the DA leadership. He stood aside at the party’s federal congress on 12 April 2026, and Geordin Hill-Lewis took over. It is Hill-Lewis who has now signed the letter demoting him.
The Pretoria High Court ruled on 25 May 2026 that farmers may procure their own foot-and-mouth disease vaccines from private importers, manufacturers or their agents. The ruling came in a case against Steenhuisen and other state institutions. Southern African Agri Initiative CEO Francois Rossouw called it a victory for all livestock and game farmers in South Africa.
Farmers’ organisation TLU SA welcomed his removal. President Bennie van Zyl said Steenhuisen made some good international trade deals but did not always put commercial farmers first. On foot-and-mouth disease, van Zyl said Steenhuisen
“chose to follow the wrong advice.”
DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis wrote to Ramaphosa today asking for several changes to the party’s representation in the Government of National Unity. He wants Willie Aucamp, currently Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, to take over Agriculture. Steenhuisen would drop to Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, replacing Alexandra Abrahams.
Abrahams moves to Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy. David Maynier takes Aucamp’s old Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment portfolio. Yusuf Cassim is proposed as Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, and Jack Bloom as Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation.
Hill-Lewis said Aucamp’s first job will be to resolve the ongoing legal proceedings on foot-and-mouth disease and restore the sector’s confidence.
Ramaphosa has not yet formally confirmed the changes.
Pictured above: DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has asked President Ramaphosa to remove John Steenhuisen from the Agriculture portfolio.
Image source: DA
