Patriotic Alliance (PA) Western Cape premier candidate Gayton McKenzie said he not only stands a chance of becoming the next premier, but is a front-runner in the upcoming elections.
McKenzie said his candidature was agreed to after robust discussions within the party.
“It is our strategy... I am known in the coloured community. I am known in the white community. I am known in the black community and I am also known in the prison community – they are voting this time,” he said, when asked this week why he threw his name into the ring.
In February, the PA announced his candidature following its national executive committee meeting in George in what he described at the time as “a mission to remove the DA from the Western Cape (government)”.
While McKenzie remains the party’s presidential candidate, he was quick to state that the PA was not the only party to have its national leader as a premier candidate.
“GOOD has done that. The DA has done that, but it doesn’t want to come out and say it. We are confident of our strategy that bringing me in as a premier candidate will bring us the desired results,” he said.
His candidature comes as some polls suggest that the DA, which has been at the helm of the province for over a decade would have its majority reduced in the upcoming polls.
This has seemingly emboldened the PA to take the fight to the DA, which McKenzie claimed was only there for white people and rich black voters.
McKenzie said earlier this week that the May 2024 elections would be a repeat of the 2021 municipal elections.
“In 2021 nobody gave us a chance – not a single paper or analyst. We now have 86 seats. We are to see a repeat of that.”
He claimed the DA would not get more than 30% of the votes in the
Western Cape. The PA’s internal poll says it will obtain 24%.
“They will not come close to 30%. In their stronghold in the Cape Town Metro between 2016 and 2021, they lost a third of their voters.”
He described the PA as a “colourful party”, with membership of both blacks and coloureds. “You must not make a mistake that we are here for coloured people,” he said, before accusing the DA of separating the two racial groups.
“To a certain extent there is some hatred among our communities.
“They say to coloureds, you can’t get jobs because the ANC bused Xhosa people in (to the Western Cape). People were born here but we are told they are refugees,” McKenzie said.
“The DA is in great trouble. This is not 2011, 2016, or 2021 when we (PA) did not have structures... If you go to Delft, Mitchells Plain, Elsiesrivier, Kraaifontein, it’s a full house. We have branches in Gugulethu, Nyanga and Khayelitsha.”
McKenzie believes his prediction of a poor show by the DA at the polls places him in a favourable position.
“Not only do I stand a chance, I am a front-runner. You must ask them (DA) if they stand a chance,” he said.
Earlier this week, five parties, from Prince Albert, Witzenberg, Beaufort West, Oudtshoorn and Central Karoo that have coloured constituencies and are not contesting the May 29 elections, pledged to campaign for the PA.
“We are going to eradicate gangsterism. I was a gangster. I grew up as a gangster. I understand how to fight gangsterism,” McKenzie said.
He added that people made the mistake of thinking that gangsterism was a policing issue.
“It is a social issue also. If you don’t give people jobs or you don’t give people opportunities. Gangsters take them. We will bring back law and order by fighting gangsterism.”
McKenzie said he would deal with the uneven distribution of land in the province. “There are five different horse parks in Constantia and surroundings, where the horses are grazing. The horses in Constantia have more space than the people in Hanover Park,” he said.
“Our people are told there is no land. How come horses have land?” According to McKenzie, he would also ensure that land was not only available for development.
He noted that due to spatial planning, people were given land about 60km away from the city centre, instead of building them houses.
“I am saying people must come and live closer to the city centre.”
McKenzie added he would prioritise the unification of coloured and black people in the Western Cape.
“If we continue to go our separate ways, the DA will always rule us. We need to get together. Yes, we have a problem, but we need to speak about it and find each other.”
He sent a strong warning to those who employed illegal foreigners.
“People in the Western Cape, even businesses, hire illegal foreigners. We will close you down, because you are committing a crime,” he said, adding that illegal foreigners were making the Western Cape their home after finding it difficult in other parts of the country, such as Gauteng.
“This is a temporary arrangement.
In restaurants, you can't find a coloured person.” McKenzie brushed off a suggestion that he had abandoned the Central Karoo District after his short stint as a mayor there.
“When I became a mayor, in my opening speech I said I be mayor for a year. I said I will be there for one year, because I can't sit as mayor in Central Karoo when national elections are happening.”
He said he was proud of the work he had done at the district municipality, where he claims to have eradicated bucket toilets, fixed broken pools and provided clean water.
Although wishing to remove the DA from power, McKenzie has not ruled out a coalition with the DA or any other party after the polls.
“Politics is not about your ego,” he said. “It is not what Gayton says, but whoever agrees with what we want for the majority. Yes, we are open to work with the DA. We are open to work with ActionSA. We are open to work with all parties.
“We are the only party that has said we are open to working with anybody.
We make promises to our constituencies, and if we attain those promises through the DA, we will take them,” McKenzie said.
Cape Times