Kenny Kunene running for Joburg mayor

Kenny Kunene, the Deputy President of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and former businessman known widely as the “Sushi King,” has officially thrown his hat in the ring to become the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg. 

Following a brief but turbulent hiatus from public office in mid-2025 involving a high-profile murder investigation, Kunene has returned to the political arena.

In an interview with the SABC, he said that his campaign centres on decisive leadership, strict law enforcement, and a direct challenge to the current coalition dynamics governing South Africa’s economic hub.

Kunene’s mayoral bid comes after his reinstatement as a councillor in the City of Johannesburg in late September 2025. 

Now officially back in the chamber, Kunene is pivoting toward a campaign for the city’s top job. He is set to face formidable opposition, including the Democratic Alliance’s veteran politician Helen Zille.

In an interview with the SABC, Kunene has outlined a hardline platform focusing on three major issues plaguing the metro: the reclamation of hijacked buildings, aggressive revenue collection, and curbing illegal immigration. 

In his first major remarks regarding his candidacy, Kunene emphasised that the city requires a leader who is not afraid to make difficult decisions.

“I am the man for the job… I am the man to be the mayor of Johannesburg,” Kunene declared, projecting confidence in his ability to govern. 

He criticised the current and past governance styles for failing to address systemic issues. “I’m very decisive and I understand that you need to deal with the cause of the problem, not the effects of the problem,” he said.

“When you look at how government has run things until where we are it deals with the effects of the problem”.

Kunene, who forms part of the governing Johannesburg coalition, has been openly critical of the current mayor, Dada Morero, accusing him of non-performance and an inability to manage coalition politics effectively.

While Kunene insisted, “I don’t have personal beef,” he characterised Morero as a leader who struggles with the reality of coalition government, wishing instead that the African National Congress (ANC) still held an absolute majority. 

“He wishes that the ANC was in the majority therefore he can be an alpha and omega,” Kunene said.

He added that while he cannot dictate to the ANC who their candidate should be, he can “certainly have an opinion on how the person is performing”.

The bump in the campaign

His path to the mayoral candidacy was temporarily derailed in July 2025 when he was placed on special leave and subsequently resigned from his position as Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Transport.

The resignation was triggered by a scandal in which Kunene was discovered at the Sandton home of Katiso “KT” Molefe during a police raid. 

Molefe is a suspect facing charges in connection with the 2022 murder of the musician Oupa “DJ Sumbody” Sefoka. 

At the time, the optics of a high-ranking city official present at the home of a murder accused forced Kunene to step aside to allow for an impartial investigation.

However, a probe commissioned by the Patriotic Alliance and conducted by the law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH) reportedly cleared Kunene of any wrongdoing. 

The investigation corroborated Kunene’s defence that his presence at the residence was professional rather than personal.

He maintained that he was there to facilitate an interview for a journalist working for his online publication, Africa News Global.

Addressing the incident, Kunene stated, “We are not friends. I think if you look at my online newspaper, it hasn’t been that active, and I decided to put together some young people that can run with it, that are interested in the media space, to resuscitate it”.

Following the release of the report, which did not find evidence contradicting his account, PA leader Gayton McKenzie publicly welcomed Kunene back into the fold. 

“The DP is back. You have shown absolute leadership. You stepped aside without badmouthing the party, and your account has been corroborated,” McKenzie said. 

Consequently, Kunene was re-sworn in as a councillor on September 26, 2025, replacing Liam Jacobs, who resigned to move to Cape Town. He was then re-instated as MMC of Transport in the city, and Deputy Mayor.

From prison to politics

Kunene’s bid for mayor is the latest chapter in a colourful and often controversial life.

A former English teacher turned convicted criminal, Kunene spent six years in prison (1997–2003) for running a Ponzi scheme. 

Upon his release, he reinvented himself as a motivational speaker, businessman, and reality TV star, earning the moniker “Sushi King” for eating sushi off the bodies of half-naked women at lavish parties.

He co-founded the Patriotic Alliance in 2013 with Gayton McKenzie, another former convict turned politician. 

Over the last decade, Kunene has transitioned from a tabloid fixture to a central figure in Johannesburg’s municipal politics, serving as acting mayor on occasion and holding the transport portfolio.