Steenhuisen turns his attention to upcoming polls after fallout with Dion George

Democratic Alliance (DA) John Steenhuisen is taking the fallout with his former cabinet ally Dion George on the chin, saying he's getting on with his leadership duties and talking to voters.

Steenhuisen said the investigations he’s now facing, which call into question ethical leadership is the brunt of having exercised his right to make changes to his executive.

George quit the DA a week ago on live television while levelling allegations of impropriety against Steenhuisen.

While Steenhuisen has been gagged by the party’s Federal Executive (FedEx) from talking about the internal disciplinary process he’s facing now, he's confident he will be cleared.

"I’ve no doubt that once that process is finished and the public protector finishes her process, the truth will out, just like it was outed on the allegations of the so-called hundreds of thousands of rands that Uber Eats was bought on a party credit card."

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Steenhuisen said the decision he took to move George from the environment portfolio was purely political.

"This is not a spat. This is a fallout from a political decision that was made. It’s not a spat. I don’t get involved in spats."

But he acknowledged that the consequences of that decision have been an unwelcome distraction in an election year.

"I don’t think voters like to see a party where people are fighting each other, because their very first thought is, if these people are so busy fighting themselves, how do they fight for me?"

Despite the internal party turmoil, Steenhuisen said he won’t be distracted by political games as he gears up for what he believes will be a watershed local government election for his party.