EXCLUSIVE: “I don’t get forced to do anything,” says Steenhuisen

Democratic Alliance (DA) leaderJohn Steenhuisenis adamant that he was not forced into withdrawing from contesting for a third term as party leader. On Wednesday, Steenhuisen announced that he would not seek a third term. However, he would stay on until a new leader was elected at the party’s April congress.

At a briefing in Durban, Steenhuisen was flanked by his allies in the party, including the DA’s KwaZulu-Natal provincial chair and Public Works MinisterDean Macpherson, during his announcement. Allegations resurfaced from party insiders that he had fallen out with a faction perceived to be led by the party’s federal chair,Helen Zille, and that he was forced not to contest at the next conference. “I don’t get forced to do anything,” Steenhuisen said in an exclusive interview with theMail & Guardianon Wednesday.

“I have been in politics since I was 22 years old. I don’t get forced into doing anything. “I have been in politics at the highest level for a number of years.

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Nobody forces my hand. I make decisions that I think are in the best interest of the party and the best interest of the people in the party.” Earlier this month, Zille told theM&Gthat the allegations circulating within party structures — that she was playing a role in efforts to weaken Steenhuisen’s position — were “a total invention”. “It is entirely untrue, as anyone who knows what is going on understands.

My job is to preserve the DA’s institutions and make sure they work well for everyone and are not weaponised in any internal squabbles,” she said. Steenhuisen was recently investigated by the party’s federal legal commission (FLC) over claims that he abused the organisation’s funds for personal use via a party credit card. However, the FLC cleared him of misappropriation but found that there was prima facie evidence that he brought the organisation into disrepute during his public fallout with former treasurerDion George, who recently quit the DA.

Speaking to theM&G, Steenhuisen said he was not aware of people who might be plotting to have him removed from the party. “If there is a group of people who want to do that, well, that’s fine. I intend to remain in politics and serve the party. If the party doesn’t want that, then the party must make a choice.

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