McKenzie vs Malema for 2024 Kingmaker

Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie has confirmed that he is part of talks with “many parties” in the Western Cape to oust both the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) from the Western Cape. And in his prediction for the outcome of the watershed 2024 national elections, McKenzie says his PA is the only party that stands in the way of the Economic Freedom Fighter’s (EFF) hope to be the Kingmaker. He lists the actions the PA would take if it wins that race. In this latest wide-ranging interview with BizNews, McKenzie also reveals plans to fill Orlando Stadium on the 10th anniversary of the PA in November. And he speaks frankly on his party’s biggest milestone; his biggest regret of not including other races in his party from the start; accusations that the PA can’t be trusted; and his criminal past. He also slams big business for propping up both the Apartheid and ANC governments. – Chris Steyn

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Relevant timestamps from the interview

00:09 – Introductions
00:22 – Gayton Mckenzie on the plans for the Patriotic Alliance’s 10 year anniversary in November
01:03 – What he regards as the biggest milestones the party has achieved over the past 10 years
02:03 – On regrets and what the party did wrong
03:46 – On talks of a coalition government in Western Cape
08:18 – On accusations that he and the party can’t be trusted
10:52 – His criminal past
15:17 – His predictions for 2024
23:21 – Frustrations with big business for propping up Apartheid and ANC governments
26:33 – Conclusions

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Excerpts from the Interview

On the PA’s 10th anniversary in November:

“We’ve got massive, massive, massive plans…for our 10 year birthday party…we are going to celebrate it at Orlando Stadium, a 40,000 seater stadium, and I think 10,000 people are standing..and we’re going to fill that stadium.”

On the biggest milestone the PA has achieved over the past 10 years:

“So we have not done well in three elections since our formation. We didn’t do well in 2014, we didn’t do well in 2016, we didn’t do well in 2019. But we stayed the course…You know, we’re sitting on 85 plus seats now.”

On what his party got wrong:

“Yeah, the party got a lot of things wrong. But I think one of the biggest regrets is that we… learned late that when you only concentrate on one race, it’s low key racism. Well, it’s racism…at first we had no interest in including other races…And gradually now we are attracting very good, talented leaders from all other races…and of all the political parties in South Africa, we have the most diverse leadership in our top six….”

Read more: Gayton McKenzie on the DA and ANC’s “Vegas” wedding plans

On rumours of a new coalition pact forming in the Western Cape:

“I’m part of those talks where we are trying to oust both the ANC and the DA from the Western Cape because it has been governed by both of them. And we are not in an advanced stage; we are in the infancy stage of talking…We are getting a lot of the parties together in the Western Cape that are basically gatvol of both of them….And we are talking to big leaders…because all of us just can’t stand the arrogance of the Democratic Alliance…It is impossible for them to hold on…”

On what would happen if the DA and the ANC went into a coalition:

“…in 2026, both parties will not be around…I’m telling you now, if they work together…The gift they (the DA) will give us is to work with the ANC in 2024. We will meet them in 2026 in the local government elections.”

On charges from opposition politicians that McKenzie and his party can’t be trusted:

“…there’s nothing right I can do in the eyes of the DA…the DA has had so much goodwill from my community, the Coloured community, over the years, 60% to 70% of their voters are Coloured people. And what have they done with that goodwill? They’ve done nothing in the Coloured communities. That’s why the PA is growing.”

On his criminal past being used to discredit him:

“I have a terrible past, and I’ve never hidden my past. I used to rob people, I used to be a gangster, and I’m not proud of it, and I’m deeply ashamed of my past. But…I decided to change my life, and do something with my life, and be an inspiration to people that had pasts like mine. And I entered business and politics to make sure that the very people that criticise me, I make sure that their children’s future doesn’t become my past.

Read more: McKenzie: Opposition parties, incl PA, may be giving ANC a “free pass” of 5 more years

On his predictions for 2024:

“So I predict the PA will get between 10 and 15 percent. I believe that ActionSA will get just under 10%. I believe that IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party) will get just under 10%. And I believe that DA will go around 15%…the Moonshot guys, the Charter guys, I think the highest they can all go, and if they bring ACDP (African Christian Democratic Party), if they bring Freedom From Plus, if they bring everyone, I think they’re gonna cap it 40%. That’s now a good day. The ANC will get 40 percent…The election is between two parties here. It’s between the PA and the EFF. Now, Malema is a smart, wily character…He has worked it out even before I worked it out. He worked out that the only party in his way… But what he wants is very clear. He wants to get 11%. He wants to take the ANC over 51%, over 50 plus 1%. That’s what Malema wants. What does Gayton McKenzie want? He wants the same. We want to be the kingmaker. Now, I’m not going to come and lie on your show and say, if the DA gets 40%, and the DA needs the 11% we get, we will give it to them, I will forget all the bad things I said about them and I will make tea for Helen Zille. But I’ll make tea for (Herman) Mashaba. I will make tea for the IFP, for everyone, to say, guys, because that’s how politics work.”

On the five things the PA would do if it became Kingmaker:

“…we’re bringing God back into South Africa.…we are bringing back Conscription…we will mass deport all illegal immigrants…we’ll bring back the death penalty….and we need to leave this thing of you black, you white…”

On the EFF’s aims:

“..they want expropriation without compensation…the nationalisation of the banks…open borders…I don’t believe in that and the PA don’t believe in that because once you expropriate without compensation…you lose your property rights. Once you lose property rights, you have no country left. We can learn from Zimbabwe. They are now looking for those farmers that they expropriated their land without compensation…I believe that we must expropriate, but with compensation.”

On big business propping up both the Apartheid government and ruling party:

“Apartheid could have ended earlier if it wasn’t for some business people in this country…Business people that was trying to hold on to the good times of Apartheid because some of them were milking it…Now we see the same thing happening again where business people are now propping up the ANC…very good business people are now working with ANC to try to salvage the image of the ANC…We will deal with them very harshly because what they are doing is the same thing they did in Apartheid. And some of them are the very same people.”

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McKenzie vs Malema for 2024 Kingmaker: New pact talks to oust the DA & ANC from the WC…