Former Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen could be hauled before a disciplinary hearing if the party’s Federal Legal Commission (FLC) finds evidence of misconduct against him.
Africa Daily can exclusively reveal that a complaint has been lodged against Steenhuisen by an unknown person, calling for disciplinary action to be taken against him.
The complaint was noted during the DA’s Federal Council meeting held in Johannesburg on 18 July after members were informed that it had been referred to the FLC. The development effectively prevented the matter from being debated while the legal process runs its course.
The Federal Council is the party’s highest decision-making body between federal congresses. It convened to assess a range of issues, including the DA’s performance in the Government of National Unity (GNU) and to review the performance of the party’s Cabinet ministers.
However, sources with direct knowledge of the meeting told Africa Daily that Steenhuisen’s conduct also featured on the agenda, albeit only as a matter for noting, after the disciplinary complaint had already been referred to the FLC.
“Yes, it was currently tabled as an ongoing matter,” the source said.
“The party intends to discuss and review the matter once the FLC is done and has finalised its case.”
While the identity of the complainant and the precise charges are yet to be disclosed, the source said the complaint stemmed from, or was precipitated by, Steenhuisen’s candid News24 interview earlier this month, in which he publicly reflected on his removal from Cabinet and launched a broadside against both his successor and sections of the party’s traditional support base.
The insider says the complaint relates to conduct that allegedly brought the party into disrepute, an offence that carries potentially serious consequences under the DA’s federal constitution.
In the interview with News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson, Steenhuisen said he felt deeply betrayed by his successor – DA leader and Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis following the Cabinet reshuffle that saw him removed as Minister of Agriculture and appointed Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition.
Steenhuisen likened his removal from Cabinet to “giving my head to a baying mob of hyenas” and suggested his political downfall had been engineered by external conservative forces whom he derided as the “AfriMAGA” mob.
The AfriMAGA term is viewed by others as a derogatory political label to describe conservative Afrikaner civil society and interest groups such as AfriForum, Solidarity, and SAAI, linking them to Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement
One source said those remarks had proved particularly contentious inside the party.
“His decision to dismiss his opponents by calling them ‘AfriMAGA’ could be seen as problematic, as it puts him at odds with the DA’s long-standing values.
“The people he refers to as ‘AfriMAGAs’ are not only seen as an important group of DA voters, but many in the party believe they also play a key role in promoting
constitutional principles,” the source said.
However, Hill-Lewis maintained that the reshuffle formed part of a broader effort to strengthen the DA’s contribution to the GNU and better align the party’s executive deployment with the electoral mandate it received in the 2024 general election.
In response, he publicly rejected Steenhuisen’s suggestion that he had betrayed him, insisting his decisions were guided by what he described as a “higher loyalty” to South Africans and to building a capable, trustworthy government.
Another source said there had also been growing concern within the party that Steenhuisen’s handling of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak had alienated sections of the farming community, with some believing he had failed to adequately manage the crisis.
The source said those sections of the farming community had conveyed those concerns directly to Hill-Lewis.
“Hill-Lewis was well aware that farmers were unhappy with Steenhuisen,” the source said.
The latest complaint is not the first time Steenhuisen has found himself before the DA’s internal legal processes.
Earlier this year, in January, the party’s Federal Executive (FedEx) instructed the FLC to institute a formal disciplinary inquiry into both Steenhuisen and former federal finance chairperson Dion George over allegations that their public conduct had brought the party into disrepute and undermined internal cooperation.
The decision came despite a preliminary investigation clearing Steenhuisen of allegations that he had misappropriated party funds through the use of his party-issued credit card.
That investigation was led by Federal Legal Commission chairperson Glynnis Breytenbach. At the time, the Federal Executive also issued a cease-and-desist directive instructing all parties involved not to litigate the dispute in public.
George had accused Steenhuisen of using the DA’s credit card for personal expenses, including significant Uber Eats charges. It also later emerged that a default judgment had been granted against Steenhuisen in 2025 over almost R150 000 in unpaid personal credit-card debt.
Steenhuisen denied any wrongdoing, describing George’s allegations as “flimsy fabrications” and accusing him of pursuing a campaign of revenge after being removed from Cabinet.
George subsequently resigned from the DA.
By July 2026, however, the party confirmed that no formal disciplinary process linked to the earlier matter had been finalised.
The latest referral to the Federal Legal Commission marks another chapter in Steenhuisen’s increasingly strained relationship with the party’s internal disciplinary structures.
Africa Daily further understands that the Federal Council is expected to wait for the commission’s findings before deciding whether any further action should be taken.
