Picture this: after the election this year the ANC opting — as party chair Gwede Mantashe wanted — to enter a governing coalition with the MK Party and the EFF instead of forming the government of national unity (GNU) in its current shape.
If that had happened the economic fall-out would have been severe, and aside from that, the subsequent political intrigue would have been harrowing. Giving Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi what he wanted nationally would have been the final nail in the ANC’s coffin.
Months later, Floyd Shivambu and Dali Mpofu would defect from the EFF to MK, causing deep instability inside the new unity government.
Worse, ANC insiders who were still loyal to Zuma would also defect to MK, en masse, with a clear path to government posts as part of his new outfit. Zuma has never wanted a “reverse takeover” (whatever that means) of the ANC. He wants to replace it, and sharing power with it would be the way to achieve this. The ANC and, more importantly, the state, would be on their knees now, mere months after the election.
The above scenario was avoided, and no-one is more grateful for this than Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie. The sport, arts & culture minister is passionate about the GNU, having mapped out precisely such possible scenarios in the aftermath of the election.
He is a tough man to pin down after his entry into the government, with a gruelling schedule. He tells the FM: “The president asked me how I am holding up just this week … let me tell you, it’s tough. Coming from a corporate environment, I thought I worked hard … I am not a lazy guy … but the amount of work is insane.”
McKenzie describes the existence of the GNU as a revelation for him, delivered by the most important players in South Africa’s political space: the voters.
“I don’t think people understand the concept of a second chance, but this is the second chance voters gave, not to President Cyril Ramaphosa, not to Gayton, not to John Steenhuisen, but to all of us. Voters said: ‘Here, take this and make it work’ … We dare not fail them.”
Second chances is something McKenzie understands.
He was jailed for robbery and served a 17-year sentence, before turning to business, motivational speaking and, most recently, politics. He feels he is living his second, and perhaps final, chance. Despite his being a relatively nonstrategic cabinet post, McKenzie takes it very seriously. He has backed local musicians and sports people and pushed for poor people to have access to opportunities through the arts.
This week he began the department’s annual handout of bursaries — but gone are the days when these lucrative benefits were reserved for the politically connected.
“A lot of bursaries were handed out by us in the past to people who did not truly deserve it … it was based on who you knew. But I want a child whose father or mother died for this country to be given opportunities … the children of widows, of police, of soldiers, of firefighters — those are worthy recipients of bursaries. I am starting that now,” he says.
McKenzie’s bursary initiative was launched after he gave away R2m in tickets to US singer Chris Brown’s shows, a controversial move. Nonprofit organisation Women for Change, which works to protect women from gender-based violence, called for a boycott of the shows, citing the Brown’s history of such violence.
It was a tough call for McKenzie, given South Africa’s alarming levels of attacks against women, one he made in consultation with his department’s director-general.
“I am the last person in the world to deny someone a second chance … the opportunity to redeem themselves … 10,200 people were employed this week due to that concert. Look what it has done for our economy.
“Giving [Brown] a second chance allowed him to be a force for good … he himself wanted us to give away the tickets.”
A politician looking for a second chance — or perhaps a fourth or fifth — is Zuma. While McKenzie was close to the former president, he now describes the man he wrote a book about as “getting stranger by the day”. McKenzie believes Zuma is out to destroy the EFF, and that this attempt is likely to intensify in the coming year.
The ANC alone cannot beat Zuma … Only the GNU can beat Zuma and silence ANC critics
— Gayton McKenzie
Yes, Zuma poses a threat to the ANC too, he says, but there is one way for the party to survive.
“The ANC alone cannot beat Zuma. The ANC alone cannot beat the GNU, only the GNU can beat Zuma and silence ANC critics. If this government changes the lives of the people for the better, it is a recipe to beat Zuma. If the GNU is successful, it nullifies everything Zuma says about the GNU being a sell-out,” he says.
He has warned the ANC to put aside its succession politics for the sake of the country and has urged the DA and its federal executive chair, Helen Zille, to “stop bickering”.
“Let’s send one message, and unite around this new thing in our country. People are excited about the GNU … let us deliver services like never before and grow the economy,” he says.
Another startling shift for McKenzie is his stance on Ramaphosa.
“He is made for this moment. One thing we all have in common [the ANC, the DA and the other GNU partners] is that we trust him … we all trust him enough to know he won’t stab us in the back … Ramaphosa puts the country first … he humbles me … Everyone wants me to leave the GNU, but I will not. Even if I am reshuffled, I will remain an avid supporter.
“I believe this is the best possible scenario for the country. I won’t betray my country.”
McKenzie is a believer, yet there remain many in Ramaphosa’s own party who are not. It is no wonder the ANC’s trajectory is downward; “country first” is no longer in its DNA.
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