Try GOLD - Free
It's time to be decisive, Mr Prez
Mail & Guardian
|July 25, 2025
There are many reasons to criticise Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie.
-
Not least among them is his xenophobia regarding immigrants, which has found expression in his party's appalling “Abahambe” slogan.
The larger-than-life former convicted criminal-turned-sports minister is certainly not a measured individual — a critical ingredient in a political leader. But this week he gave a public lesson to Cyril Ramaphosa in decisive leadership, a characteristic our president has shown himself to lack.
Within a day of media reports that Kenny Kunene — his close friend and second-in-command in the PA — had been found in the company of a murder suspect when police arrested him on Monday, McKenzie suspended him from party activity for a month so that he could explain their connection.
This story is from the July 25, 2025 edition of Mail & Guardian.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
Lessons from M&G cabinet scores
It may be time for a leadership change
4 mins
M&G 09 January 2026
Mail & Guardian
This year in cinema
Get ready for a year of daring filmmaking, epic adventures and unforgettable performances, from Boots Riley's surreal satire to Nolan and Villeneuve's epic visions
4 mins
M&G 09 January 2026
Mail & Guardian
Malawi's visa reversal could backfire
The cash-strapped country scrapped visa-free travel for 79 countries, including the US and UK, in a bid to shore up forex reserves
4 mins
M&G 09 January 2026
Mail & Guardian
Mantashe: SACP will pay a heavy price at elections
The ANC chairperson also urged the party not to elect a strongman president at its 2027 conference
6 mins
M&G 09 January 2026
Mail & Guardian
Us today; you tomorrow
WW2 is conventionally dated to September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, but its origins can reasonably be traced back to 1935 when Fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia
4 mins
M&G 09 January 2026
Mail & Guardian
Ditsobotla's neglected townships
Residents were sceptical that anything would change after ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile's visit to the area this week
6 mins
M&G 09 January 2026
Mail & Guardian
ANC leaders criss cross North West in anniversary blitz
The ANC, celebrating 114 years in existence this week, deployed its national officials to the North West, a service delivery hotspot, in a charm offensive meant to launch the party's road to the 2026 local government elections.
4 mins
M&G 09 January 2026
Mail & Guardian
Malatji vows to take up arms if need be to remove illegal foreign nationals
ANC Youth League president Collen Malatji has vowed to physically “clean out” foreign nationals illegally in South Africa, saying this could mean taking up arms to ensure their removal.
2 mins
M&G 09 January 2026
Mail & Guardian
Golden Acre entering her next era
There is something fitting about the multilevel shopping centre and office block entering another phase of reinvention
4 mins
M&G 09 January 2026
Mail & Guardian
SACP ignores ANC pleas, presses on
The deepening rupture between the two was laid bare at the commemoration of Joe Slovo’s death
5 mins
M&G 09 January 2026
Listen
Translate
Change font size