Cape Town – Gayton McKenzie, leader of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and current Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, has announced that he will resign and that the PA will pull out of all its coalition agreements with the ANC across national, provincial, and local governments.
According to IOL, McKenzie made the announcement in a lengthy Facebook post where he outlined several grievances against the ANC and its coalition partners. He accused the ruling party of repeated acts of “disrespect” and failing to honour agreements.
McKenzie pointed to incidents in Ekurhuleni, where the Economic Freedom Fighters allegedly told the ANC that the PA was not welcome in the coalition.
He further said that in Johannesburg, the PA had been promised two portfolios but gave one away in the interest of coalition unity. However, when the party nominated Liam Jacobs for the remaining position as MMC for Roads and Transport, the ANC allegedly blocked his appointment.
“I had to point out to them how educated Liam is compared to people in the same position currently who have no matric. I also showed them that he already was an MP at a young age,” the report quoted McKenzie as saying, accusing Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero and the ANC of working with the EFF to exclude the PA.
[BREAKING NEWS] Patriotic Alliance confirms intention to withdraw from GNU. Leader Gayton Mckenzie to withdraw his party from all coalitions. More details on #eNCA #DStv403 #QuestionThinkAct pic.twitter.com/21isxoL5Wn
— eNCA (@eNCA) September 24, 2025
As reported by News24, another source of tension was the reinstatement of PA deputy president Kenny Kunene. McKenzie said the ANC had agreed to bring Kunene back into the mayoral committee after a legal process cleared him of wrongdoing. “They refuse to reinstate him and even refused all the other names we put forward,” he said.
The minister also raised concerns over Johannesburg’s ongoing water crisis, particularly in areas such as Westbury and Newclare, where residents went without water for days. McKenzie said he had to arrange private water trucks after residents complained that police used force during protests.
As reported by EWN, McKenzie declared that the PA would now pull out of all ANC-led coalitions. “We are not considering; we are withdrawing. Never forget the biggest lesson here: you can remain to dine at a table when disrespect is on the menu. We opt to leave rather. Ons baiza nie,” he said.
McKenzie added that if the ANC continues to sideline his party, the PA is prepared to form new alliances. “We will meet them, and we will form a coalition with the DA … We can’t allow them to treat us like that as the ANC,” he warned.
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Compiled by Lisabeal Nqamqhele
