Former gangster and bank robber Gayton McKenzie, who transformed into a nightclub owner and opposition politician, has now been appointed as South Africa’s minister of sports, arts, and culture.
President Cyril Ramaphosa selected Mr. McKenzie, leader of the Patriotic Alliance (PA), for the position in the new multi-party government announced on Sunday, following the African National Congress (ANC) losing its parliamentary majority in the May 29 election.
A prolific tweeter, the 50-year-od relished his appointment, posting a photo of himself putting on football boots and, with a touch of humour, typed: “Thank you for all the well wishing messages, I will reply shortly I’m just busy getting ready, I have work to do 🥅 ⚽️.”
For Mr. McKenzie’s admirers, his appointment is a testament to how he overcame adversity to achieve success. He robbed his first bank before turning 16, became a fully-fledged gangster, and spent seven years in prison.
Following his release, he vowed to change his ways.
However, the nightclub he owned was later shut down, as was a branch in Cape Town registered in his name, following legal action over alleged unpaid rent and electricity, according to the IOL news site.
“I’m not interested in clubbing. I’m busy with other projects. We killed the Zar brand – there are no future plans [for Zar],” Mr McKenzie was quoted as saying at the time.
Nowadays, he is better known as a politician, having launched the Patriotic Alliance (PA) in 2013 with Mr. Kunene as his deputy. More than a decade later, the party secured 2% of the national vote and performed even better in the provincial elections in the Western Cape, achieving 8%.
The party’s support primarily came from the coloured community, as people of mixed race are referred to in South Africa.
The PA’s signature slogan is “Ons baiza nie”, an Afrikaans phrase which loosely translates as “We are not scared”. Afrikaans is widely spoken in the coloured community, which makes up around 8% of South Africa’s population.
“For the first time there is coloured people also going to parliament through the Patriotic Alliance. We are the only party that takes all races to parliament,” Mr McKenzie said, after the results were announced.
Political analyst Kagiso Pooe told the BBC that Mr McKenzie had a “bravado” style, which appeals to his constituency.
“People want to believe and see someone that comes from their type of background and isn’t shy to say: ‘This is who I am.’ You see it with people like President Zuma, President Trump and other such personalities,” he said.
Mr McKenzie’s campaign against undocumented migrants was a vote-winner for him, the analyst added.
“Unfortunately, mainstream politicians and parties have shied away from this and he tackles it directly.”
Critics denounced his campaign as xenophobic. He waged it under the slogan “Abahambe”, which he has translated from the Zulu as “Let them go” – and, in a publicity stunt, he visited the border with Zimbabwe to chase away people trying to enter South Africa.
He faced accusations of hypocrisy, as critics highlighted a 2013 SABC interview where he described immigrants from other parts of Africa, including Zimbabwe, as an “integral” part of South Africa’s economy. In the same interview, he controversially stated, “the problem with us is – black people I’m talking about here – we are lazy.”
As Mr. Ramaphosa began negotiations for a coalition government, Mr. McKenzie publicly expressed his desire for his deputy to run the home affairs ministry, which oversees immigration. He also sought the police ministry for himself, arguing that his previous life as a gangster uniquely positioned him to address South Africa’s high crime rate.
“None of them [other politicians] are equipped to deal with the mafias, with the murder rates we are seeing. South Africa needs me,” he was quoted as saying by the TimesLive news site.
He was unperturbed when he failed to get the post, saying he had in fact asked for the sports ministry in “off-the-record” negotiations with the ANC.
“Sport can be used to change children’s lives. A child in sport is a child out of court,” he said.
“There’s one promise I’ve made: I will make spinning [of cars] one of the biggest sports in this country,” he added in a live Facebook post.
Car spinning is a recognised motorsport in South Africa – it involves vehicles being driven in circles and a driver climbing out to perform stunts.
But there are many unregulated events and as IOL sports journalist John Goliath wrote, stigma still surrounds it as a lot of people in the coloured, Indian and black townships often do spinning in the streets, which is viewed as dangerous.
“The spinning of tyres started in the townships as a ritual to honour fallen gangsters during the apartheid era,” he said.
Mr McKenzie has promised to make it possible for car spinning to take place in a safe environment, and to help keep young people away from gangsterism and drugs.
“The spinners will be recognised,” he said, adding: “When a boy has an interest in cars, he doesn’t have time for drugs. He just worries about his car.”
But Mr Ramaphosa’s decision to give Mr Mckenzie a seat in his cabinet is politically risky, as he is at the centre of an investigation ordered by the Western Cape government. It is controlled by the Democratic Alliance (DA), a fierce political rival of the PA, although they are now partners in Mr Ramaphosa’s government.
Until last year, Mr McKenzie was the mayor of Central Karoo, and was accused of failing to account for 3m rand ($161,000, £127,000) raised at a glitzy gala dinner in 2022 to improve public services, including repairing swimming pools and replacing bucket toilets.
According to local media, a court ordered him last month – just weeks before his promotion to the cabinet – to declare certain financial records to investigators.
While the PA described the ruling as “flawed”, the DA welcomed it, saying Mr McKenzie would “soon learn that corruption does not pay off”.
The DA kept up the pressure by picketing last week in the small town of Beaufort West, which is part of Central Karoo, to demand answers about the money.
Mr McKenzie said in a post on X that he intended to visit the area to give “feedback”.
“The truth shall come out. I have nothing to hide,” he said, adding: “Lies have short legs.”
“I might have had 12 rand in my pocket but I had billion rand in my mind. And that is what people do not understand – they concentrate on what they lack instead of how to get what they lack,” he said in a 2013 interview with public broadcaster SABC.
He became a highly paid motivational speaker and authored several books about his life, including “A Hustler’s Bible.” He also ventured into various businesses, ranging from mining in Zimbabwe to running nightclubs in South Africa, partnering with Kenny Kunene, his close friend from prison.
Mr. Kunene gained the nickname “Sushi King” after his extravagant 40th birthday party at the Zar Lounge nightclub in a wealthy Johannesburg suburb, where sushi was served on the bodies of women dressed only in their underwear.