MANDY WIENER: Gayton McKenzie must beware the popularity trap that tripped up his predecessors
McKenzie brings the razzmatazz and noise, but he must demonstrate that he can improve the lives and experiences of artists and athletes and the administration of sports, arts and culture in South Africa.
FILE: Patriotic Alliance leader and Sport, Arts and Culture minister, Gayton McKenzie. Picture: Katlego Jiyane/Eyewitness News
In a country with a proud history and record of sporting achievements, cultural and artistic prowess and global recognition, it continues to surprise me that the political portfolio responsible for Sports, Arts and Culture is not treated with more gravitas.
Not since the first Sports and Recreation Minister Steve Tshwete, have any of his successors met his measure. Tshwete, who filled the role from 1994 to 1999, truly loved sports and was invested in genuine transformation.
More recently, the appointment of a Minister to this cabinet position has been seen as a postscript.
Perhaps this can be attributed to how former President Jacob Zuma treated the position. He effectively turned it into an outpost, where demoted allies went to serve out their time. In this way, he kept them in Cabinet, close enough, where he could keep them inside the circle, but without any real political power or influence.
After taking the heat in the Nkandla scandal, Thulas Nxesi was moved from the Public Works portfolio to Sports, Arts and Culture by Zuma in 2017. Nathi Mthethwa was demoted from Police Minister to the role in 2019 and then exited from Cabinet.
The best example of this though was when Paul Mashatile, who is now the Deputy President of the country and the ANC’s number two, was parked in the portfolio as the Deputy Minister and then the Minister.
The portfolio takes more cunning, more deft footing and more political nuance than many may think. It is the easiest position to speak loudly about on social media because its successes and losses are demonstrated by how our athletes and artists perform. Thus, they tend to be more vocal and more public than other cabinet colleagues.
It's easy for them to fall into the populist trap.
Remember when Fikile Mbalula brought Floyd Mayweather to South Africa for the razzmatazz of it all? The boxing fraternity has only come close to sorting out its internal leadership strife in the past few weeks.
Mbalula’s tenure was also marred by the Olympic ninja turtle tracksuit allegations. It was reported at the time that Sedgars Sports, which was contracted to supply clothing for SASCOC, allegedly paid for at least half of his family trip to Dubai. In August last year, following an investigation by the Hawks, the NPA declined to prosecute as there was no evidence of criminality. But AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit is pushing ahead with the case saying the decision was irrational.
Nathi Mthethwa’s proposed vanity project, the building of a huge 100-meter glow-in-the-dark flag monument to promote social cohesion, for R22 million, was the hallmark of his time in office. Consider also how during the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of relief funds meant for artists were allegedly mismanaged.
Aside from showing up at Springbok test matches and congratulating artists on social media, the Minister in this portfolio rarely achieves much else.
But in truth, the position requires real political nuance as Gayton McKenzie is quickly realising. Beyond being Chief Cheerleader, the portfolio does hold potential for tangible impact.
McKenzie will have to decide soon if he is going to use the position to be populist and to find wedge issues to push or if he can demonstrate that he and his party can actually be effective.
He has only been in the job a few weeks and already he has fallen into the trap of populism and driving wedge issues. His eagerness and energy are fabulous, and he must bring this. But he will also have to realise that shooting off opinions on social media without first establishing the facts, can come at great expense and is dangerous.
This week, the Minister waded in on the furore around Miss SA pageant contestant Chidimma Adetshina. McKenzie posted that ‘we truly cannot have Nigerians compete in our Miss SA competition’ before stating that ‘I wanna get all facts before I comment but it gives funny vibes already’.
McKenzie is stoking the fires of xenophobia and pushing his Patriotic Alliance anti-foreigner agenda. The problem is that he is wrong on the law and wrong on morality on this issue. Adetshina is a South African, born in Soweto. Her father is Nigerian, and her mother is a South African with Mozambican roots.
It is worth noting that there have been other Miss SA winners and contestants whose parents were naturalized South Africans. Also, the Miss SA competition is privately owned, and the Minister has no authority over it.
The position he holds can easily be one used to garner popularity, but it also holds enormous influence. McKenzie will also have to navigate his way through the debate around the national anthem and whether Die Stem should be dropped or not.
He has already tweeted this week that we have the most beautiful anthem in the world while some commentators are calling for Die Stem to be dropped from it.
On the night he was appointed by Cyril Ramaphosa, McKenzie posted a picture of himself in his tracksuit and trainers saying he was ready to hit the road.
He would do well to learn from his predecessors and remember that this job is more of a marathon than a 100m sprint. Instead of chasing the popular easy wins that bring the razzmatazz and noise, he must demonstrate that he can improve the lives and experiences of artists and athletes and the administration of sports, arts and culture in the country.