'We would even work with the AWB': Gayton McKenzie as PA joins Gauteng multiparty coalitions

The Patriotic Alliance (PA) has been roped into the power-sharing coalition in hung Gauteng metros after “hours and hours of negotiations”.

This was revealed on Tuesday during a press briefing by the leaders of various political parties that are in coalition in the hung Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane metros.

The PA's inclusion means there will be changes in the composition of mayoral committees in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni for it to be accommodated.

PA leader Gayton McKenzie lauded the development as progression towards putting people's needs first. According to him, SA was the victim of personality politics, where egos and hatred for each other among political party leaders stood in the way of development and service delivery.

His party was an enemy of personality politics and would work with anyone who put the people first, even if it were the most right-wing of organisations such as the AWB.

“We in the PA have been clear that we do not care who we work with, we would even work with the AWB if we had to, because we should not bring personalities into politics,” he said.

“South African politics is full of personalities, it is all about who does not like whom.

“It cannot be that in the top [countries with] minerals in the world, SA is in the top but SA has unemployment that is 50% plus. It cannot be that our people cannot have tuck shops in their own country.”

McKenzie said his party was in it for the long run, as long as all coalition partners agreed  that “there is no big party” in a coalition. If the coalition arrangement was premised on treating each other as equal partners, he said, the future looked bright for coalition governments in SA.

This was because McKenzie believed there was “not a single province” that would be governed through outright majority after the 2024 national and provincial elections.

Other parties welcomed the PA, saying having all parties together bar the ANC was a significant move towards preparing for a national coalition government after the 2024 polls.

DA leader John Steenhuisen said: “The message this sends out today is that these people here are the way for the future. Whatever you say, the ANC will fall below 50% after the next elections.”

Action SA's John Moodey concurred, saying the only way to save the country from ANC incompetence was for all parties to unite and attack as a bloc.

“We want SA to survive, we want SA to prosper. And we all agree the ANC is the obstacle to a prosperous SA. We cannot stuff this one up around petty differences.”

McKenzie said the PA's inclusion was largely thanks to the former leader of the Freedom Front Plus, Corne Mulder, who had not stopped calling him since November. 

For joining the multiparty coalition partnership, the PA will be rewarded with one MMC position in Johannesburg, where it has eight councillors, and two in Ekurhuleni, where it has four public representatives in council. 

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