News24 | I will ‘vacate’ position as minister on Tuesday if Kunene is not reinstated as MMC – McKenzie

PA president and Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie has threatened to resign from his ministerial job.

• PA president Gayton McKenzie says he may resign as minister of sports, arts and culture.
• He says his party will pull out of all coalitions with the ANC, and he will quit his ministerial job if his deputy president, Kenny Kunene, is not reinstated as Joburg MMC.
• McKenzie made the threats in a late-night Facebook post on Thursday.

PA president and Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie has threatened to resign from his ministerial job on Tuesday if his deputy, Kenny Kunene, is not reinstated as an MMC in the City of Johannesburg.

McKenzie made the threats in a late-night Facebook post on Thursday, opening with the line: “They have pushed us too far, patriots.”

In the long Facebook post, he detailed the reasons why his party had decided to withdraw from coalitions and leave the GNU. These included the EFF allegedly refusing to be in a coalition with the PA in the City of Ekurhuleni and receiving only the roads and transport portfolio in the City of Johannesburg when it had negotiated for two.

But it appears the Kunene issue is where the PA is drawing a line in the sand.

“We took a decision as the Patriotic Alliance leadership to give the ANC seven days to reinstate Kenny Kunene; failing to do so will necessitate a move which will cause us to withdraw from all local, provincial and national governments where we are in a coalition with the ANC,” McKenzie said.

He added:

“We shall all go to the ground. Never forget the biggest lesson here. You can’t remain to dine at a table when disrespect is on the menu; we opt to leave rather. Ons baiza nie,” wrote McKenzie.

Kunene resigned as a Joburg councillor and from his post as MMC for transport in July after the PA suspended him after he was found at the home of alleged murder mastermind Katiso “KT” Molefe.

In a letter announcing Kunene’s suspension as the party’s deputy president, McKenzie said the allegations had created public concern, necessitating further investigation, and that Kunene had agreed to step aside from his political role until fully cleared.

On Monday, McKenzie announced that Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, the law firm tasked with probing the reasons behind Kunene’s presence at Molefe’s home, had cleared him of any wrongdoing.

On Facebook Live on Monday, McKenzie said he had always known that his deputy was innocent.

Molefe was arrested and charged with the 2022 murders of Oupa John Sefoka and Hector Buthelezi, known as DJ Sumbody and DJ Vintos. He is currently behind bars after he was denied bail last month.

READ | Kenny Kunene cleared of wrongdoing, Liam Jacobs leaves Joburg to focus on Cape Town

In his Thursday Facebook post, McKenzie said the PA had withdrawn Kunene from the City of Johannesburg to “spare the coalition the agony of answering questions about someone who is not from their party”.

He, however, added that his party had replaced Kunene with Liam Jacobs, but allegedly the ANC in Gauteng and Mayor Dada Morero had refused to swear him in as MMC of roads and transport, citing his inexperience.

“I had to point out to them how educated Liam is compared to [people] in [the] same position currently who [have] no matric. I also showed [them] that he already was [an] MP at a young age,” McKenzie wrote.

Jacobs previously served as an MP for the DA but resigned to join the PA. McKenzie has since announced him as a mayoral candidate for the City of Cape Town.

“The real reason came out immediately. Dada Morero promised roads and transport to [Julius] Malema’s EFF. I told them that we signed as PA for that portfolio and not Kenny Kunene or Gayton McKenzie. The position was given to PA and not to an individual. PA has the right to fill that position with any individual they deem fit. I also told them that I take great exception to them wanting to prescribe who PA deploys.

He added:

“Kenny Kunene was cleared, and still they refused to take him back. Dada was adamant. Kenny is still waiting,” McKenzie said.

He also wrote that the “last straw” was the situation in Westbury, Newclare and Coronationville, where residents had been without water for weeks. McKenzie claimed that he and a friend had intervened by providing water trucks for the communities after the City failed to do so.

READ | Kunene ‘cleared’ in Molefe house controversy, law firm finds no counter-evidence

The communities are predominantly coloured areas, and the PA has been clear that its priority is coloured voters.

Though McKenzie has threatened to relinquish his position in the GNU, just on Wednesday, at a human rights celebration in the Western Cape, he was singing the praises of the GNU, how well the ministers work, and that other parties now also want to join the GNU.

News24 reached out to the ANC in Johannesburg, but no comment had been received at the time of publication. It will be added once received.