Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen has requested President Cyril Ramaphosa to replace Environment Minister Dion George with Willie Aucamp, citing underperformance. The move coincides with George's efforts to curb the captive lion industry and wildlife exploitation. Critics view it as a bid by wildlife breeders and hunters to influence policy.
South Africa's Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dion George, faces potential dismissal amid tensions with the wildlife industry. On November 9, 2025, reports emerged that DA leader John Steenhuisen asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to replace George with DA spokesperson Willie Aucamp, officially due to 'underperformance.' This request follows a workshop completing the Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) legislation and lion breeding regulations, aimed at closing the captive lion industry.
George has taken firm stances against wildlife commodification. At the COP30 Leaders’ Summit in Belém, Brazil, he opposed captive breeding, the rhino horn trade, and animal exploitation. His department initiated voluntary exits for lion bone stockpiles, froze new captive lion facilities, and set the lion bone export quota to zero. In November 2024, DA MP Andrew de Blocq welcomed these moves against canned lion hunting and the bone trade.
However, pushback intensified. In April 2025, 11 members of the South African Predators Association (SAPA) sued in the Gauteng High Court to reinstate the lion bone export quota. Aucamp, a game farmer, aligns closely with industry groups. He attended the Sustainable Use Coalition of Southern Africa (SUCo-SA) meeting at Mabalingwe Game Reserve, praising its members including Wildlife Ranching South Africa, SAPA, and hunting associations.
The controversy extends to the National Elephant Heritage Strategy (NEHS), gazetted in 2025 to promote coexistence over exploitation. An unconsulted National Elephant Indaba Report from August 2025 at Bonamanzi, KwaZulu-Natal, was appended, advocating culls and relaxed standards. Critics, including the EMS Foundation, argue this hijacks policy for commercial interests, warning that Aucamp's appointment would blur lines between regulation and industry profit.
The EMS Foundation highlighted the DA's contradictions in a June 2025 letter, questioning impacts on ongoing litigation. George's removal could undermine reforms, signaling vulnerability to lobby influence in environmental governance.