The PA was a project of Zuma’s ANC – Zille

The Patriotic Alliance (PA) is a project of Jacob Zuma’s African National Congress (ANC), according to the Chairperson for the Democratic Alliance’s Federal Council, Helen Zille. 

Speaking at a media briefing on the defection of the ANC’s Provincial Secretary for the Western Cape, Neville Delport, to the DA, Zille said the PA was Zuma’s answer to the ANC losing power in the Western Cape. 

“They realised they couldn’t challenge the DA for power in the Western Cape,” she said.

Speaking to Newsday, PA spokesperson Steve Motale called these claims “absurd, unsubstantiated” and an “act of desperation by a sinking political party.”

The arrangement between Zuma and McKenzie, Zille claims, began when “Jacob Zuma sent Gayton McKenzie and Kenny Kunene off to be the BEE partners for some big deal in Russia.”

The deal Zille is referring to was a scandal reported by the Sunday Times in 2017, in which Kunene and McKenzie, “friends” of Zuma, were linked to a R5 billion Broad-Based-Black Economic Empowerment deal with Russian firm Rosgeo. 

The paper reported that the three had an “increasingly cosy relationship.” 

It was alleged that Kunene and McKenzie travelled to Russia with then-security Minister David Mahlobo to discuss a R5 billion gas deal with the Russian state geological company. 

The two Patriotic Alliance leaders were reportedly introduced to Rosgeo as potential BEE partners by Mahlobo. 

ANC insiders said that they “had access to the big house” – referring to Zuma’s official residence. 

At the time, McKenzie denied claims that he was becoming a “new Gupta”  and said he does not do business with the state or any state-owned enterprises. 

He added that he was the victim of a smear campaign “by those who want Cyril Ramaphosa to be the next President of South Africa and are very upset by the leaks that emerged of all the [then] deputy President’s many extramarital affairs.”

Mckenzie was also accused of sharing a string of emails exposing Ramaphosa’s affair. An allegation which he also denied. 

“I had nothing to do with the leaks, and as far as I know, Kenny only published the videos of one of Cyril’s girlfriends after he was sent the footage” he said. 

He added that he refused to be turned into a weapon in the ANC’s factional wars, just because his personal history as a convict makes him an easy target. 

In terms of his links to Zuma, McKenzie has never denied “admiring Zuma openly” but said that this does not make them friends. 

“We want to place it on record that neither Jacob Zuma nor the ANC played any role whatsoever in the formation of the Patriotic Alliance,” said Motale.

Taking votes away from the DA in the Western Cape – Zille

Being a supporter of Zuma, Zille claimed that the PA was started by McKenzie under the orders of Zuma and uMkhonto weSizwe. 

“he requested that [McKenzie] start a political party with the aim of taking coloured votes away from the DA in the Western Cape, because the ANC had given up doing that.”

Zille explained that the ANC, therefore, doesn’t mind if it loses votes to the PA, because the ANC knows it will later form a coalition with the PA anyway.

“The PA views Zille’s lies as nothing but an act of desperation from a sinking political party that is itself a project meant to preserve white privilege at the expense of millions of suffering Africans,” said Motale

He added that, with local government elections less than a year away, “Zille’s panic and desperation are on steroids.”

He said that no amount of desperation, lies, and propaganda will derail the PA from “winning the minds and hearts of millions” of South Africans looking for hope.

The PA was formed in 2013 in Paarl in response to challenges plaguing the community. McKenzie, a co-founder and co-funder of the party, was elected its first President in November 2013. 

The party has recently been snapping up by-election after by-election in the Western Cape, which has previously been a DA stronghold.

“Truth is, Zille and the DA have been rattled by the growth of the PA,” said Motale.

During the 2021 Local Government Elections (LGE), the Patriotic Alliance received 2.36% of all votes in the Western Cape, winning 28 seats in municipalities across the province.

In comparison, the DA held the majority of support in the province at 54.26% and 405 seats, leading 21 councils and controlling nine.

While not nearly as strong, the ANC was also a major contender in the province, winning 20.38% of the vote and 177 seats across municipalities.

However, recent by-election outcomes in the province show that support for the main contestants may be waning, with several voters favouring the PA.

Zille warned that political parties like the PA, where proper processes are not followed and one person holds all the power, inevitably disintegrate, comparing McKenzie to leaders like the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF’s) Julius Malema and MK’s Zuma.

“This is happening already to the EFF, it’s probably going to happen to MK as well, and it will also happen to the PA,” she concluded.