POWER SHIFT ANALYSIS: Aucamp rises as Steenhuisen falls in DA’s proposed Cabinet reshuffle

DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to move Willie Aucamp from the environment to the agriculture portfolio, replacing John Steenhuisen in a Cabinet reshuffle that could deepen concerns about the capture of South Africa’s wildlife and rural policy by hunting, game breeding and ‘sustainable use’ interests.

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South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU) is facing a significant Cabinet shake-up after Democratic Alliance leader Geordin Hill-Lewis formally requested changes to the party’s representatives in the national executive, including the removal of former DA leader John Steenhuisen as minister of agriculture.

But the most consequential figure in the reshuffle may not be Steenhuisen but Willie Aucamp.

Aucamp, currently minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment, is being lined up to replace Steenhuisen at agriculture. The move would shift a politician already criticised by conservation groups for his closeness to the wildlife-ranching, hunting and game-breeding sector into a portfolio that sits at the centre of rural production, animal disease control, land use and agricultural trade.

In a statement, Hill-Lewis said he had written to President Cyril Ramaphosa “setting out several changes to the Democratic Alliance’s representation in the national executive”, arguing that the proposed team would strengthen the DA’s contribution to the government and better reflect the mandate it received from voters in the 2024 election.

Aucamp’s immediate mandate

Under the proposal, Aucamp’s immediate mandate would be to resolve ongoing legal proceedings relating to foot-and-mouth disease, work with the agricultural sector to bring the crisis under control and continue the work of opening new markets for South African agricultural products.

Aucamp’s elevation is politically loaded. He was appointed environment minister only months ago after the removal of Dion George, whose hard line on captive lion breeding, rhino horn exports and the lion-bone trade had angered parts of SA’s wildlife-use industry.

George’s removal was widely interpreted by conservationists as a victory for the commercial wildlife lobby. Aucamp’s family and political networks have been linked to game farming and hunting.

He has publicly aligned himself with the language of “sustainable use”, a term embraced by wildlife ranchers, hunting bodies and trade advocates but viewed by critics as a cover for the commodification of wild animals.

Documents prepared during the controversy over George’s removal argued that Aucamp was closely associated with organisations in the wildlife-breeding and hunting sector, including Wildlife Ranching South Africa, hunting associations, predator breeders and taxidermy interests.

Concerns

Those concerns will now follow him into agriculture. The department is responsible not only for commercial agriculture and market access, but also for animal health, biosecurity, disease management and regulatory decisions that affect farmers, game breeders, livestock producers and exporters.

For critics, moving Aucamp there risks giving the wildlife-use lobby greater influence over a powerful rural-economy portfolio.

The reshuffle also leaves unresolved questions about Aucamp’s short tenure at environment. Under his watch, controversial hunting and wildlife-use questions remained live. Exit legislation for lion farming has been sitting on Aucamp’s desk awaiting signature for six months. One early test for his proposed successor will be whether that legislation is finally signed.

Aucamp would be replaced at environment by David Maynier, the Western Cape’s provincial minister of education. Maynier is a long-serving DA politician with a background in finance, defence and public administration, but he is not known primarily as an environmental figure. He previously served as Western Cape minister of finance and economic opportunities and, before that, as a DA MP and shadow minister of defence and finance.

Maynier’s appointment may therefore be read in two ways. To the DA, he brings administrative competence and Cabinet experience. To conservation groups, his arrival could either mark a reset after Aucamp’s controversial tenure or a technocratic continuation of a department still vulnerable to pressure from hunting, game-ranching and wildlife-trade interests.

The proposed changes also amount to a dramatic demotion for Steenhuisen, who led the DA into the GNU after the 2024 election and became minister of agriculture as part of the coalition deal. The reshuffle would move him from a full ministry to the position of deputy minister of trade, industry and competition.

Post-Steenhuisen reordering of party power

The move confirms Hill-Lewis’ authority over the DA’s national executive team and signals a sharp post-Steenhuisen reordering of the party’s power structure. He framed the changes as evidence of accountability.

“These changes demonstrate DA values in action,” his statement says. “We believe in accountability in public office, high standards of performance, and responsiveness to the needs of South Africans.”

The proposed reshuffle extends beyond agriculture and environment. Alexandra Abrahams would move to deputy minister of electricity and energy. Yusuf Cassim, who has served on the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, would become deputy minister of higher education and training. Jack Bloom, the long-serving Gauteng MPL, would become deputy minister of water and sanitation.

But the centre of gravity remains Aucamp.

His rise follows a bruising battle over the environment portfolio. George, his predecessor, had been praised by conservation groups for moving against captive lion breeding and the lion-bone trade. He said at the time that “shutting down captive lion breeding is DA policy”, that lion-bone holders had been given a voluntary exit path and that the export quota had been set to zero.

Backlash

The backlash was swift. Eleven members of the SA Predator Association reportedly took the department to court over the lion-bone export quota, and conservation organisations warned that replacing George with Aucamp would reward the very sectors that had resisted reform.

The National Council of SPCAs also warned that Aucamp was linked to industries involved in lion breeding and captive-wildlife facilities, including organisations litigating against the department over the lion-bone export quota.

Those warnings now take on a new significance. Agriculture is not the environment portfolio, but in SA the boundaries between farming, game ranching, wildlife breeding, hunting, land use and animal disease management are porous. Aucamp’s move may therefore strengthen rather than weaken the political influence of the sustainable-use bloc.

The final decision rests with President Ramaphosa, who has the constitutional authority to appoint and remove ministers. Hill-Lewis can request changes to the DA’s GNU team, but the Presidency must make them official. DM

Politics

Maverick Earth

DA

Geordin Hill-Lewis

politics

Willie Aucamp

reshuffle

John Steenhuisen