South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has carried out a cabinet reshuffle, moving former Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen from Agriculture Minister to Deputy Trade Minister.
The change, announced late Tuesday in Johannesburg, came at the request of the DA’s new leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis. Hill-Lewis took over the DA in April and asked Ramaphosa two weeks ago to reassign his predecessor. The move follows a severe foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the country’s farming sector.
Steenhuisen’s portfolio will now be led by fellow DA member Willie Aucamp, who previously served as Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister.
Ramaphosa also filled the vacant Social Development Ministry. ANC veteran Dina Pule was appointed to the role, replacing Sisisi Tolashe who was dismissed in May over misconduct allegations.
Pule returns to cabinet for the first time since 2013, when she was fired after a parliamentary ethics committee found she had breached the lawmakers’ code of conduct by favoring a company run by her boyfriend. Pule denied wrongdoing at the time. She remains a senior figure in the ANC Women’s League.
The DA is the second-largest party in South Africa’s coalition government alongside Ramaphosa’s African National Congress.
