Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dion George looks likely to lose his post after his party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), proposed that he be replaced by its spokesperson, Willie Aucamp.

George was asked to become deputy trade minister, “but he didn’t see that as an option for himself” and lawmaker Alexandra Abrahams had been recommended for that position, DA leader John Steenhuisen said in an interview on Monday, adding that a final decision will rest with President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The DA joined a 10-member coalition government led by the African National Congress after last year’s elections failed to produce an outright winner and was allocated six cabinet posts. The DA’s federal executive committee had decided on the new appointees to the government, Steenhuisen said.

Ramaphosa fired the DA’s Andrew Whitfield as deputy trade minister in June for travelling abroad without permission, and his post has stood vacant since then.