Dion George’s resignation exposes growing fault lines inside the DA

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JEREMY MAGGS: Longtime Democratic Alliance stalwart Dion George has walked away from the DA after almost 30 years, giving up his parliamentary seat and senior roles in a scathing public break. He’s accusing party leader John Steenhuisen of abandoning core DA principles, shutting down internal accountability and allowing the party’s voice to be diluted within the Government of National Unity (GNU).

The fallout exposes deep tensions inside South Africa’s main opposition at a critical moment. Let’s explore this in a little more detail, from the Wits School of Governance political commentator TK Pooe. A very warm welcome to you. What does his exit, in your opinion, really tell us about the party’s internal stability and leadership culture right now?

TK POOE: Hi, Jeremy. Well, I think it tells us two key things. One, it tells you that we can now, I think with certainty, say there are divisions within the DA. It’s not speculation because people don’t simply leave on speculation.

I think if we read what Mr George himself has stated on record, that he feels that the party is moving in a direction he is not comfortable with. So that’s the first thing we can establish, that there are divisions.

Then secondly, it is the question which the DA is going to have to balance as they assume actual power, how do they manage the party and state differences? By state I mean government. It’s not something they’ve really had to negotiate because yes, while the Western Cape is part of South Africa, they’ve had power there in the longest form. But this is national power and it brings a lot of dynamics which are going to test what people have always known about the DA, that it’s a solid party with solid administrators.

But this is politics, a terrain of power and politics. We’ve really not known how the DA… you never really know until you are in this situation. So that is going to be something that’s going to be ongoing. Mr George is not the only one who’s going to be stepping down or having problems. It’s a question of do you step down and say, listen, I’ve got a problem, then go, or do you fight as they go towards elections?

Read: South African environment minister Dion George set to lose his post [Nov 2025]

JEREMY MAGGS: I want to come back to the GNU in just a moment, but you referenced divisions within the party. Do you think this weakens Steenhuisen’s authority inside the party, and do you think it might trigger leadership pressure ahead of key electoral contests?

TK POOE: I think with Mr George exiting it makes it a bit easier. But the question is, is his exit a catalyst for something else? If it’s a catalyst, we’re going to actually see a leadership contest for one of the first times in the DA. Whether it weakens or not is a question of how they handle it.

At the most, I think at present times, and I’m only speculating here, if you look at the way it’s coming out, the fact that Mr Steenhuisen’s personal issues have started to come to the fore in the newspapers, the fact that people are uncomfortable with the GNU, it says that if it goes down this trajectory, you might actually start seeing divisions. We can look at the ANC (African National Congress) in terms of how divisions work. They never are a positive thing.

It’s fine to have divisions on the fact that you want to be in GNU or do you want to be out of it, but it’s a whole different thing if it becomes personal and people feel attacked.

Because when people feel attacked, it becomes a whole different argument.

JEREMY MAGGS: But fair to say that the resignation is reflecting, I think, increasing growing discomfort with the DA’s position in the GNU, surely?

TK POOE: Yes, and it’s a question of is it the DA or is it the DA of Mr Steenhuisen? I think that’s what we’re going to have to really keep tabs on. Because my understanding would be not every member of the DA was comfortable going into a coalition that had the ANC. But the decision was made.

Now it’s a question of, let’s say Mr Steenhuisen loses the election, I think in either March or April. That will then really reveal to us, okay, was this really Mr Steenhuisen as a leader taking a decision, or was it something the party said, look, we were never comfortable with it and we’re just going to revert to us being in the opposition?

JEREMY MAGGS: It was always, though, TK, going to be difficult. This resignation surely damages the DA’s credibility as a transparent opposition, particularly how it often challenges other parties on accountability, and therein lies a contradiction and a bit of irony.

TK POOE: I tend to look at it more as growth. This was going to be the natural direction it took because of the decision. Look,  they always painted the ANC as the enemy, not just an opponent but the enemy. Once you say that and you’ve told your members day in and day out that that is the enemy, and now you’re in bed with the enemy. You’re right in saying it was always going to be a tense situation, but it’s a question of how do they handle it?

I would look at it as an issue of its growth. You can’t want to always be in opposition, because the problem with opposition is you can end up just being there for life. Now they’ve taken a massive step to say, listen, we think we can work internally, but that’s also got its disadvantages, as Mr Steenhuisen is finding out now.

It’s a question of how do they manage it. The most critical thing is do the rank and file, and we know the DA has a very particular system, do the rank and file, and I know the DA always does a lot of polling, do they still believe the course which was taken is the correct one? If it looks as though it’s diluting what they are about, yes, you’re right in saying that they’re going to have to take another drastic decision to exit. But that’s also got its own politics as you exit, because you’re leaving the room for – and I use the DA’s language – those people on the opposition benches to now come into government. So they’ve almost painted themselves into the perfect corner.

JEREMY MAGGS: And they’ve got to have an eye on their constituency or their customers. They are vulnerable, surely, to losing voters who have prioritised principled opposition and internal democracy.

TK POOE: I think they might have a lovely buffer in the form that at the moment it’s not as though the ANC is going great. Also, the pond in which they’re fishing, the DA doesn’t fish in the same pond as the ANC. If you look at the DA, we can say they fish in the same pond if we’re looking at parties like Freedom Front Plus (FF+) and maybe Patriotic Alliance (PA). But in truth, what could help the DA here is simply the fact that there is no great opposition out there which can fish in the DA’s pond.

So they’ve got a bit of a buffer. It’s almost like the ANC voters or sympathisers who say, listen, I don’t support the ANC on principle based on what they are at the moment, but I’m not going to vote. Looking at the history of the Democratic Alliance, that’s never been the case with their voters. Their voters always come out in the high 80s or 90%. Now, if that drops, then that’s a problem. But it’s not as though they’re going to go to any other party, because it’s the same thing with the Freedom Front Plus if they’re still in the grand coalition.

So that buffer gives the DA time to, I think, if they believe they need to change direction, change direction. If they need to almost say, listen, this is the direction we’re taking, and we need to just maybe get our members on board. So they’ve got a bit of a good buffer in terms of where they can go.

JEREMY MAGGS: Just a quick one in conclusion, do you buy Dion George’s argument that John Steenhuisen has, and I quote, compromised core values and has shut down scrutiny?

TK POOE: That is such beautiful language. I wish he was more direct in terms of what he was saying…(chuckling)

JEREMY MAGGS: (Chuckling)

TK POOE: But look, this is politics in South Africa. I’ve always had the belief that what we do need is people who come into politics who are a bit more settled financially because this is the accusation that the DA has always said about the ANC, that they are compromised because of the, let’s say, the strained financial situation. If Mr George is following that logic, then we can say, look, there is a need to maybe look at Mr Steenhuisen.

But he’s not giving them anything to really say, look, I’ve changed direction and I’m taking monies from strange people. But maybe it’s a question now, if I was them, put a bill forward saying, listen, if you are a Member of Parliament, please let’s start paying your finances. Not to say we’re going to make a judgement, but let’s start seeing your finances in such a way that it becomes a non-issue, that everybody knows this is where you are. And I think that would be a better way to do it.

But if we’re doing speculation, it’s January, what they call Janu-worry, and many people have different financial situations. It doesn’t say because you might have debt that you are an individual who is bad. But what we do know in South Africa, it sometimes signals that we should be a bit worried.

JEREMY MAGGS: I’m going to leave it there. As always, appreciate your time and your crisp analysis. From the Wits School of Governance, TK Pooe, political commentator, thank you very much indeed.

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