South Africa’s John Steenhuisen has been removed as agriculture minister, with DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis confirming on Wednesday, 17 June 2026, that Willie Aucamp will take over the portfolio in the party’s first cabinet reshuffle under new leadership.
Steenhuisen, the former DA leader, had led the agriculture department since the formation of the government of national unity in 2024.
His removal follows months of pressure over his handling of the foot and mouth disease outbreak, as reported by Daily Maverick. He moves to a deputy minister role.
Why Steenhuisen was removed as agriculture minister
The DA confirmed Steenhuisen will become deputy minister of trade, industry and competition, a notable demotion from a full cabinet post.
Willie Aucamp, previously the minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment, steps into agriculture. David Maynier takes over Aucamp’s former portfolio in the reshuffled team.
Announcing the changes, Hill-Lewis framed them as a strengthening of the party’s role in government.
“It is my judgement that the renewed team announced today will strengthen the DA’s contribution to government and give better effect to the mandate received from 3.5 million voters in the 2024 elections,” he said.
The reshuffle is the first major personnel move by Hill-Lewis since he replaced Steenhuisen as DA leader, and it signals a willingness to act on internal frustration over the agriculture portfolio.
Steenhuisen had held the post as one of the most senior DA figures in the national executive.
What the agriculture reshuffle means for the FMD crisis
Aucamp inherits an immediate challenge. The foot and mouth disease outbreak has disrupted livestock farming and exports for months, and a Gauteng High Court ruling in May allowed farmers to procure and administer vaccines without state permission.
His brief is to resolve the legal disputes and restore confidence across the sector.
Since the outbreak took hold, Steenhuisen had been locked in running battles with farming organisations and veterinarians who accused the department of moving too slowly.
The court loss in Pretoria confirmed that producers could act independently on vaccination, a ruling widely read as a rebuke of the department’s central control.
The wider changes touch more than one department, with Maynier moving into the forestry, fisheries and environment role that Aucamp vacates.
The DA presented the adjustments as a refresh of its full ministerial team, framing the agriculture change as part of a broader recalibration rather than an isolated dismissal.
Steenhuisen’s move to deputy minister still requires President Cyril Ramaphosa to formalise the changes through the standard cabinet process.
The reshuffle sets the tone for Hill-Lewis’s leadership of the DA inside the coalition, and farming groups will now watch closely to see whether Aucamp can steady a portfolio that has tested the party.
