South Africa DA pushes to demote agriculture minister in cabinet reshuffle
Why it matters: The move could shift management of a foot-and-mouth outbreak inside the coalition government.
South Africa’s Democratic Alliance has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to change the party’s cabinet lineup, including moving Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen to deputy trade minister. DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis said he proposed Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Willie Aucamp to take over agriculture and bring the foot-and-mouth disease crisis under control. The DA, the second-largest party in the governing coalition, secured 12 cabinet posts when it joined the Government of National Unity in June 2024 and can ask Ramaphosa to swap its representatives. Steenhuisen led the pro-business DA from 2019 until April, when Hill-Lewis succeeded him.