PA rejects DA’s Public Protector complaint on Gayton McKenzie as ‘nonsense’

The Patriotic Alliance (PA) has dismissed a planned Democratic Alliance (DA) complaint to the Public Protector over Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie as “nonsense”. The DA announced it would on Thursday, July 23 submit a dossier of evidence to Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka, saying it seeks a full-scale investigation into allegations involving McKenzie.

What the DA will submit

The DA said the submission would take place at 11:00 at the Public Protector House in Pretoria. The party said the allegations concern a jobs-for-pals scheme benefitting the Patriotic Alliance and the misappropriation of nearly R110 million in public money. The DA also said it would refer McKenzie’s FIFA World Cup trips as part of the complaint.

Spending under renewed scrutiny

The DA’s move follows renewed scrutiny of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture’s R31.95 million expenditure related to the FIFA Club World Cup. The party also criticised McKenzie for repeatedly failing to appear in Parliament where, it said, he was expected to answer questions about the administration of R109 905 992 in Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) grants.

PA response

The PA said it had noted the DA’s announcement and rejected the planned complaint. PA national spokesperson Steve Motale said the DA had again produced what he described as recycled allegations and that previous attempts had failed.

“As with every previous attempt, this one is not built on evidence – it is built on headlines.”

Motale said the DA had “thrown what he described as a bundle of recycled allegations at the wall in the hope that some of the mud would stick.” He added:

“It has not stuck before and it will not stick now. Because there is nothing there.”

Motale also said that McKenzie had answered every question put to him in Parliament on these matters and had responded publicly through official statements and media responses. He said the DA had never provided a single piece of evidence of wrongdoing.

“Two years into his term, that evidence has never arrived. Not one example, not one document, and not one witness.”

He urged that if the DA believed it had proof of corruption or criminal conduct it should take the matter to the police, saying:

“They have not, because they know they have nothing. “

Motale said McKenzie had been cleared in every previous Public Protector complaint and every prior referral to Parliament’s Ethics Committee brought against him, and he predicted the same outcome this time.

“This investigation is nonsense and the Public Protector’s outcomes will prove that.”

Accusations of political motive

Motale accused the DA of political calculation, saying the DA hoped an unresolved allegation could be used during the November municipal elections. He claimed the DA was “haemorrhaging support to the Patriotic Alliance in the Western Cape” and described the complaint as “political calculation dressed up as concern for good governance.”

PA’s counteraction

Motale said the Patriotic Alliance was finalising its own complaint to the Public Protector against the DA, arising from the Resolve Communications matter involving former DA leader Tony Leon. He said allegations related to Resolve involved privileged access to DA ministers for private clients and referenced Starlink’s regulatory dealings with Communications Minister Solly Malatsi.

He added:

“We look forward to the DA answering questions about its own house with the same “transparency” it demands of everyone else.”

The reporting and statements above were published by IOL.