Big-spending Steenhuisen faces scrutiny as DA fallout over axed Dion George continues

Amid a battle via media being fought over DA leader John Steenhuisen’s contentious decision to axe party stalwart Dion George as minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment, Steenhuisen is facing scrutiny over alleged difficulties managing his finances.

The allegations have come to light at this time due to concerns that financially precarious politicians are more vulnerable to persuasion by lobby groups — amid ongoing speculation that George may have been removed from his position in part due to his refusal to appease hunting groups.

Daily Maverick can reveal that records show that Steenhuisen had a default judgment granted against him in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court in May for unpaid personal credit card debt of almost R150,000.

At that stage, Steenhuisen, the minister of agriculture in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Government of National Unity (GNU), would have been on a minister’s annual salary of R2.69-million for almost a full year.

Asked by Daily Maverick if he could understand the concern around a politician earning a multimillion-rand salary being unable to pay off his credit card debt, Steenhuisen did not dispute the default judgment.

“My personal finances have nothing to do with the Daily Maverick unless you can demonstrate that illegal funds or the proceeds of corruption or abuse of office or undue benefits have flowed into or out of my accounts,” said Steenhuisen.

“If you have evidence of corruption or maladministration or undue benefit, you are welcome to raise same with the relevant authority.”

It is widely recognised that politicians’ personal financial issues are of public interest, which is why South Africa’s annual parliamentary Register of Members’ Interests carries disclosures of MPs’ financial interests, so that the electorate can assess whether a politician is acting in the public good or being steered by their financial interests.

In the 2025 Register of Members’ Interests, Steenhuisen recorded that he owned no shares, no land or property, and no income-generating assets — which is relatively unusual for a DA or ANC MP of his age.

DA insiders told Daily Maverick that Steenhuisen’s alleged financial disarray had been an open secret in the party for years.

Steenhuisen’s party credit card allegedly removed

Daily Maverick can reveal that the DA’s federal finance committee, earlier this year, allegedly had to remove Steenhuisen’s party credit card because the account could not be reconciled.

Steenhuisen acknowledged that the card was returned to the party, but claimed that he made the decision to do so.

“I chose to return the card and moved instead to a reimbursive system to deal with claims incurred from the execution of my duties, given that the administration relating to the card proved onerous,” Steenhuisen told Daily Maverick.

This is contradicted by the party’s federal finance chair — Dion George.

“It was necessary to remove Mr Steenhuisen’s party credit card. As federal finance chair, I took that action,” said George.

“It was necessary because the account could not be reconciled, as is a condition of issue.”

George also supplied Daily Maverick with text records showing an unnamed DA staffer asking George to “speak to John” about “his DA card”.

War between Steenhuisen and George gets uglier

The fallout after George’s axing has seen the Steenhuisen and George camps at loggerheads, with accusations flying back and forth in the media.

The official narrative as to why Steenhuisen wanted to remove George has been murky from the start.

Initially, it was reported that it was because Steenhuisen wanted to use George’s background in finance and his dual US citizenship to the GNU’s advantage in the post of deputy minister of trade, industry and competition — a position George declined. At this point, Steenhuisen explicitly dismissed the idea to EWN that he had booted George because of “underperformance”.

As environmentalists and groups like the NSPCA expressed growing unhappiness over George’s replacement with Willie Aucamp because of Aucamp’s reported links to the captive wildlife industry, new allegations against George in various media outlets, citing anonymous sources, have arrived thick and fast.

George, who has held senior roles in the DA since 2005 without seeming to attract adverse reporting until now, has since been accused of “bullying” and “psychologically intimidating” staff, undertaking too frequent international trips, practising “apartheid” in his office, and, most recently, speaking ill of his colleagues and sexual misconduct.

Steenhuisen told News24 he had received a list of these complaints against George, although the DA’s Federal Council chairperson, Helen Zille, was quoted as saying: “No complaints ever reached me”.

George has strenuously denied the charges.

It is also unclear why, if Steenhuisen decided to remove George, at least in part, over these allegations of misconduct, he would nonetheless have wanted to retain George as his deputy trade and industry minister.

Steenhuisen suggested that Daily Maverick’s questions were “designed with the intention to smear my name and standing” and “timed in retaliation for changes effected by the party to the national executive”.

With the DA’s next elective congress coming up in April 2026, the stakes for both men will be high. DM