Gayton McKenzie vows to step down as minister of Sports, Arts and Culture
Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie has announced that he will step down as South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture at the end of September 2025.
His decision follows growing tension between his party and the African National Congress (ANC), just days after he confirmed that the PA would be pulling out of all coalition agreements with the ruling party.
In a statement shared on the PA’s official Facebook group, McKenzie said he would officially vacate his position on 30 September.
He explained that relations between his party and the ANC had broken down, largely due to disagreements over political appointments in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.
According to McKenzie, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) pressured the ANC to keep the PA out of the Ekurhuleni coalition.
He also revealed that the PA had initially negotiated for both the Human Settlements and Transport portfolios in Johannesburg, but later handed Human Settlements to the Inkatha Freedom Party.
Matters escalated when the party suspended its deputy president, Kenny Kunene, after he was linked to a controversial incident during the arrest of murder-accused Katiso Molefe.
The ANC rejected the PA’s nomination of Liam Jacobs to replace Kunene, which deepened the rift.
McKenzie said frustrations reached their peak after communities in Westbury, Newclare, and Coronationville endured weeks without water.
“Those communities went without water for weeks but would see the water trucks go to squatter camps next door,” he said.
He also repeated his ultimatum to the ANC: reinstate Kunene as Johannesburg’s MMC for Transport or risk losing the PA’s support entirely, even in the Government of National Unity.
“They have pushed us too far. We shall go to the ground,” McKenzie declared.