PA's McKenzie vows to 'teach the DA & ANC a lesson' as he aims to take wards in upcoming polls

CAPE TOWN - Patriotic Alliance leader, Gayton McKenzie, is on a mission, particularly in the Western Cape, to snatch wards from both the African National Congress (ANC) and Democratic Alliance (DA) in local municipalities that have been beset by instability.

McKenzie said that he would not stand for claims that his party was a DA or ANC lackey and that a vote for his party was a default vote for either of them.

Despite the PA's partnership with both these parties in the Government of National Unity, McKenzie told supporters there would be no holds barred in upcoming polls for the party, which he said was the fastest-growing countrywide.

In a Facebook Live to address supporters, McKenzie said that he would be exacting revenge on coalition partners who have done in the PA in municipalities where there was no outright majority.

In June, the PA lost the mayoral chain in the Laingsburg Municipality when the ANC switched alliances in favour of a DA mayor.

"We must teach the DA and ANC a lesson. A touch is a move. We have declared war in the Western Cape. You’ve removed our councillor."

In May, the PA snatched a seat from the ANC in the Northern Cape hamlet of Sutherland.

Now, McKenzie is firing a warning shot that his party will take another ward from the ANC in a by-election in the Langeberg Municipality, where the party’s former councillor, Johannes January, has defected to the PA.

"In Beaufort West, we are going to teach them a lesson. Knysna we are going to a vote of no confidence. We are not stopping."

McKenzie said that his party was going all out to win wards in the Matzikamma and Knysna municipalities in August’s by-elections.