A shack attached to an apartment building in Clottesville, a neighborhood Marshall September says is plagued by high unemployment, drugs and violence. Photo by Aurelia Mouton
The Patriotic Alliance (PA), which emerged as South Africa's fastest growing political party in the May 29 election, is touting the defection of two Economic Freedom Fighters as further evidence of its growing support in areas including the Western Cape where its message has resonated with working-class people of colour.
Last week, PA co-founder and deputy chairman Kenny Kunene hosted former EFF MPs Kenny Motsamai and Patrick Sindain.
The latter said he left the Red Berets for personal reasons, adding: “The Palestinian Authority's rebuilding strategy appealed to me. I completely agree with the party's stance on charity, respect for the Royal Family and community leaders. I was also attracted by the party's stance on illegal immigration.”
Kunene said 90 percent of voters for the Palestinian Authority came from communities of color.
“We will now expand to the white community, the Indian community and most importantly the black community,” he added.
Gayton McKenzie's party won 7.33% of the vote in the Western Cape, up from 0.03% in the last election in 2019, according to data from the South African Electoral Commission.
The PA is currently the sixth largest political party in South Africa, a significant improvement from 32nd place in 2019. It has nine seats in the National Assembly and is represented in the provincial parliaments of the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Western Cape.
The Palestinian Authority also received ministerial posts in President Cyril Ramaphosa's Government of National Unity (GNU) with McKenzie appointed minister of sport, arts and culture, while Sheila Mary Peters is a member of the Gauteng provincial executive council.
The party's gains have been most noticeable in working-class coloured communities in the Western Cape, such as Saldanha Bay and Cloetesville in Stellenbosch. According to IEC statistics, the party is currently the second largest party in Saldanha Bay with 18.93% of the municipal vote, and the third largest party in Cloetesville with 6.24%.
As the PA gained votes in these areas, support for the Democratic Alliance (DA) declined.
Residents and community leaders say the main concerns in Clottesville are crime, violence, poverty and unemployment.
“The problem that's basically happening in our community is there aren't any jobs and people aren't getting more educated,” said Marshall September, a resident who organized a community demonstration against crime in May.
“A lot of our coloured communities are struggling to find work and the DA is in charge of Stellenbosch. In terms of opportunities, there aren't many opportunities for our coloured communities because the period is three or five months.”
DA ward councillor for Clottesville, Elsabe Vermeulen, declined to comment.
“Unfortunately for the prosecution, [the PA] “He's been able to craft a language that appeals to working-class communities of color. If you look at Gayton McKenzie, district attorneys may not want to work with him because he's an ex-felon, but that's also to his advantage,” said political analyst Thobani Zikalala.
Palestinian Authority lawmaker Vernon Vragom said the party's growing support in Saldanha Bay was also due to its high-profile efforts in the case of Joshlyn Smith, the 6-year-old who disappeared from the area in February.
“We are on the ground… The Joshlyn incident has elevated the view of the Palestinian Authority, so this whole incident has been exaggerated by our president, Gayton McKenzie,” Vragom said.
McKenzie has been similarly vocal, and at times controversial, on issues of particular concern to communities like Clottesville and Saldanha Bay, including illegal immigration, neighborhood safety, gang activity and drugs.
“If you look at how the Patriotic Union campaign was structured, it was built around two main things: firstly, the representation of Coloureds and then, in terms of the framing of their message, particularly Cape Coloureds who are based in working class townships,” Zikalala said.
“The second part of their election strategy was to use the idea of illegal immigration and community safety as a campaign issue.”
Both Zikalala and Vlagom said joining the GNU would give the PA an opportunity to further raise its profile as it aims to win more votes from the DA in the Western Cape in the 2026 local elections.
“That's why Gayton said that if we were part of the opposition in the government, our voices would not be heard. That's why we joined the GNU so we could take part in decision-making,” Vragom added.
