John Steenhuisen

On 15 February 2020, he declared his intention to seek a full-term as Federal Leader of the DA at the Hellenic Community Centre in Mouille Point, Cape Town. Several public representatives attended the launch of his campaign, including Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, the head of the party's governance unit James Selfe, Shadow Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Glynnis Breytenbach, and DA chief whip in the National Assembly Natasha Mazzone.

The party was scheduled to elect its new leadership in May at its 2020 Federal Congress, but this has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Steenhuisen has since temporarily suspended all campaign activities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the DA launched a coronavirus information channel. On 8 May 2020, Steenhuisen delivered a speech in which he called for the national lockdown to be halted. Steenhuisen called the lockdown "destructive" and said, "there is no longer a justification to keep this hard lockdown in place." He also said that the DA had written to the International Monetary Fund and filed a PAIA complaint to obtain the minutes of the National Command Council's decision to retain the tobacco ban.

On 14 May 2020, a heated interview occurred wherein Steenhuisen became agitated on live television following SABC News journalist Flo Letoaba's query as to who he was speaking on behalf of with regards to the critique of the ANC's handling of the national lockdown which he presented. Steenhuisen sarcastically asked on multiple occasions during the interview whether Letoaba would like a list of all those he spoke on behalf of and went on to accuse her of "being in the president's corner".

Mmusi Maimane resigned as Federal Leader and Parliamentary Leader of the DA in October 2019, causing Steenhuisen to lose the title of chief whip. Steenhuisen's deputy, Jacques Julius, served as the acting chief whip. Steenhuisen declared his candidacy to succeed Maimane as parliamentary leader and was elected unopposed on 27 October 2019. He formally announced on 28 October 2019 that he would run for Federal Leader of the party. He was elected to the position on an interim capacity on 17 November 2019 after he defeated Gauteng MPL Makashule Gana.

In the early days of Steenhuisen's leadership, the party lost control of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in December 2019. In August 2016, then-DA leader Mmusi Maimane formed an informal alliance with the Economic Freedom Fighters to secure control of several hung municipalities, including Johannesburg with Herman Mashaba of the DA as the city's mayor. Mashaba resigned as mayor in October 2019 and left office in November. A vacancy was therefore created. DA Gauteng leader John Moodey and party provincial chair Michael Moriarty were seen as being supportive of the EFF co-operation with the DA. DA Federal Council chair Helen Zille and Steenhuisen both opposed a coalition agreement with the EFF. On 4 December, the ANC regained control of the city of Johannesburg. Previous DA coalition partners and a few DA councillors voted for the ANC candidate Geoff Makhubo.

Steenhuisen came under scrutiny in November 2018, when it was discovered that he lacked any formal tertiary education.

Steenhuisen was appointed Chief Whip of the DA caucus on 29 May 2014. He was reappointed to the post in May 2019.

Steenhuisen joined the National Assembly in July 2011 by replacing Mark Steele, a DA MP who, in turn, assumed Steenhuisen's seat in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature. Steenhuisen is a member of the Rules Committee. He previously served as a member of the Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament. He also formerly served as the DA's Shadow Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

He currently resides in Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal and is a supporter of the Sharks rugby union team and AmaZulu F.C. football club. Steenhuisen was married for 10 years to Julie Steenhuisen (née Wright), a fellow Durban native. They were divorced in October 2010, amid public revelations of his ongoing affair with Terry Kass Beaumont, the DA's provincial spokesperson and wife of Michael Beaumont, the DA's provincial director. Steenhuisen has two daughters from his first marriage. He is now married to Terry and they have a daughter together. He is fluent in both English and Afrikaans.

He represented the constituency of Durban North in the eThekwini Municipal Council, and its precursor, the Durban City Council, for ten years until his election to the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature during the 2009 South African general election. He was elected Provincial Leader of the Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal at the party's 2009 Provincial Congress. He held the position until he announced his resignation from the provincial leadership on 18 October 2010, amid the disclosure of marital unfaithfulness. Steenhuisen's resignation as provincial leader became effective on 24 October 2010, although he continued to serve as an MPL and DA caucus leader until his move to the National Assembly in July 2011.

In 1999, at the age of 22, Steenhuisen was elected to the then Durban City Council and consequently became one of the youngest municipal councillors. He was appointed the caucus leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in 2006 and served on the city's Executive Committee.

Steenhuisen was born in Durban and attended Northwood Boys High School, an English-medium secondary school in Durban, from 1989 to 1993.

John Henry Steenhuisen (born 25 March 1976) is a South African politician who has been serving as the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly since October 2019 and the interim Federal Leader of the Democratic Alliance since November 2019. He previously served as the Chief Whip of the Official Opposition under the leadership of Mmusi Maimane from May 2014 to October 2019. He has been serving as a Member of the National Assembly since July 2011. Before he was appointed to parliament, he was active within the provincial politics of KwaZulu-Natal, serving as both the Provincial Leader of the DA and the leader of the party's caucus in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature.