Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie has said that being a minister in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet “is not the beginning or the end for me”.
Image: Tumi Pakkies/Independent Newspapers
Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie has said that being a minister in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet “is not the beginning or the end for me”. McKenzie made the remarks when speaking during a Facebook Live broadcast.
McKenzie spent a little over an hour on Sunday night addressing allegations which had arisen from eNCA’s interview with inmate Jermaine Prim. He said that he had never met Prim and rejected claims that the two had any relationship.
He said that he would take a lie detector test with Prim so that they could get to the truth.
“I’ve never met him. I’ve never seen him… I ask that we must do a lie detector test. Me and him. And we must be asked if we ever met, and do I sell drugs or whatever?”
McKenzie was aggrieved by the allegation that he has ties to the drug trade. He said that the allegations are not new and have been around since 2002/2003. He also explained that Prim’s claim of Prim funding the PA makes no sense, as the timeline does not sync up.
“Now, what pisses me off? This drug story, he said it (in), I think it was 2002 or 2003. This is not the first time.
“This is not a new thing that he said to eNCA. I don't know what made eNCA bring up this thing again this year. So everybody thinks that this is a new allegation. This allegation has been coming from 2002,” McKenzie said.
“This man says he funded the PA. This man doesn’t have a house or a car. There was no PA in 2012. PA came in 2013, and I think he went to jail around 2012/2013. How can you fund something that is not there?
“How can you give me money, and I (already) have money? A man with no house, no car, wants to give me money?” McKenzie questioned.
“How does this man say he's selling drugs for me in jail? I’m the one who complained about this man. How do I remove somebody who's selling for me? Do you know, little money there is in C-Max, compared to what my businesses make?
“I grew up in the street, I know how these things work,” McKenzie said.
McKenzie said that he could be accused of many things, but not drugs.
“You can accuse me of many things, not drugs… When do I sell the drugs? Who outside can say I deal with them? There must be dealers outside.
“A person who has been in jail from 2013, or however long, knows what's happening outside, and says I'm a drug dealer? I have never, even when I was rubbish; I never involved myself in this thing of drugs. I hate drugs with all my heart.
“Accuse me of anything, don't accuse me of that,” McKenzie said. “I was an armed robber. I robbed banks. I robbed institutions.”
McKenzie said that if Prim had a bank statement to corroborate what he had said, then he should produce it.
“He says he’s got the bank statement to prove it. Why don't you give the journalists the bank statements? I can't deny bank statements. Because if he comes with a bank statement, they can check my accounts, and if it corresponds, then I'm guilty.”
Athol Trollip, the former mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.
Image: African News Agency/ANA
McKenzie also addressed the allegation that the PA was started by the ANC. He said that if that were the case, then the party’s actions in the 2016 elections made no sense.
The PA leader shared how they got seats in Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) and Ekurhuleni in the 2016 elections, and how President Jacob Zuma and Jessie Duarte had been communicating with him over the coalitions.
He said that Duarte was angry at him for giving NMB to the DA at the time.
“I said, we give you Ekurhuleni, and we make Trollip the mayor. I said no to the president of the country, but if this was their party, why would I say no to him? Why would we make (Athol) Trollip the mayor? Think for yourself, people.
“If you are a thinker, Nelson Mandela Bay… Our vote could have gone to the ANC, and we refused. I gave it to Trollip to run,” McKenzie said.
He also denied the allegation that the PA is a coloured party. He listed several top party officials, such as Kenny Kunene, Steve Motale and others, as examples of the party not only promoting coloured people.
“Leave this thing, when you say PA is a coloured party.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie are seen in conversation on stage.
Image: Danie van der Lith / DFA
He said he would pursue legal action against multiple parties, including the Minister of Correctional Services, the National Commissioner of Correctional Services, journalist Heidi Giokos in her personal capacity, her editor, and eNCA.
''We are suing them,'' said McKenzie. He said the legal action was intended to force a full investigation into how the interview was conducted and to expose what he described as an “operation.”
He also added that while he feels honoured to serve the country, “To be a minister is not the beginning and the end for me.
“I just serve the people. It's the highest honour, but it's not do or die for me.”
theolin.tembo@inl.co.za