John Steenhuisen's choice of chief of staff is nothing more than cadre deployment - and enemies of the GNU will leap on it.

Democratic Alliance leader and Minister of Agriculture in the government of national unity (GNU) John Steenhuisen has quietly appointed an alt-right podcaster as the chief of staff in his department, it emerged this week. The move has caused consternation within the DA and expressions of concern even from longstanding DA supporters.

Steenhuisen has defended the appointment of Roman Cabanac on the grounds of Cabanac's legal experience, although it is unclear if Cabanac has completed his law articles. But the reality is that Cabanac is notoriously one of the most divisive, race-baiting voices on local social media - a fact of which Steenhuisen cannot possibly claim to be unaware.

The evidence that both Steenhuisen and Cabanac are fully aware of his reputation is found in the fact that Cabanac appears to have frantically deleted thousands of tweets after his role became public knowledge.

The skills for which Steenhuisen claims he appointed Cabanac - an eye for detail and an LLB degree - are hardly in critically short supply in South Africa. Steenhuisen's appointment of Cabanac, then, can only be read as an endorsement of a person who...