Sport, arts, and culture minister Gayton McKenzie used a national stage meant for remembrance to sound a political alarm, warning that black disunity within the governing alliance is opening space for what he described as a more disciplined “white strategy”.
Speaking on Friday at the 33rd commemoration of slain SACP leader Chris Hani in Kwaggafontein, Thembisile Hani local municipality in Mpumalanga, McKenzie ditched his prepared speech and confronted tensions within the ANC and SACP.
“Well, I’ve done the work of government… I’m putting the government speeches away,” he said.
Addressing ANC Mpumalanga deputy chairperson Speedy Mashilo, McKenzie said infighting within the tripartite alliance was eroding its political footing.
“When we hear that the ANC and the tripartite alliance are fighting, we get very happy… On a political level, I get very happy,” he said. “But on a level of black unity… we are taking 10 steps back,” McKenzie said.
Cohesion among opposition parties
He contrasted the situation with what he described as strategic cohesion among opposition parties, citing recent by-elections in George involving the DA and the Freedom Front Plus.
“The Freedom Front said, even if they chased us away, we are still going to vote with them… because we can’t allow you to come in,” he said.
McKenzie warned that such coordination, set against internal fractures in the alliance, could shift the balance of power.
“I’m saying to you today, if this event… cannot bring you together, there’s no hope for you. You are going to fight until you are out of power, and McKenzies will be in power with the whites.”
The remark sharpened his broader message that political survival now hinges less on liberation legacy and more on unity versus strategy and cohesion against calculation.
Beyond the politics, McKenzie returned to the life of Hani, describing him as “an ordinary man with extraordinary love for his people” and invoking a biblical parallel.
“He would see it… and then he would die. And someone else would lead the people the rest of the way,” he said, likening Hani to Moses.
“Moses was the one who led his people out of bondage. He endured the desert with them. He carried their complaints, their doubts, and their wavering faith. He stood between them and destruction more than once.
“He was the one who kept alive the vision of a land that could be free. But God told Moses he would not enter the Promised Land. He would see it from the top of Mount Nero. I think about Chris Hani in those terms.”
Deeper tensions in tripartite alliance revealed
He also recounted Hani’s humility, recalling how the late SACP leader once skipped an ANC meeting to watch Orlando Pirates among ordinary supporters.
“Chris Hani loved Orlando Pirates. He was a Buccaneer. He loved Orlando Pirates so much that one day the ANC had a very important NEC [national executive committee] meeting and Pirates was playing a final. He decided on his own, without his bodyguards, without his wife,” narrated McKenzie.
“He sent a letter to the secretary-general of the ANC to say, ‘comrade, I’m very sick today. I can’t come to the NEC meeting.
“He went to watch football. He didn’t go to the VIP section. He sat with the masses, but the camera caught him.”
The commemoration, held under the theme “Freedom and the Rule of Law: Thirty Years of Democratic Citizenship”, marked 33 years since Hani’s assassination on April 10, 1993.
In the end, the ceremony meant to symbolise unity instead revealed a deeper tension, a movement caught between memory and momentum, where yesterday’s solidarity is being tested by today’s strategy.
- Minister Gayton McKenzie used the Chris Hani commemoration to highlight black disunity in the ANC-led tripartite alliance, warning it enables a disciplined “white strategy” by opposition parties.
- McKenzie criticized infighting within the alliance, contrasting it with the strategic cohesion of opposition parties like the DA and Freedom Front Plus during recent by-elections.
- He urged unity within the alliance, asserting that failure to unite would result in the ANC losing power to more organized opponents.
- McKenzie reflected on Chris Hani’s legacy, likening him to Moses as a humble leader with deep love for his people who sacrificed for freedom.
- The event, meant to symbolize unity, instead exposed growing tensions within the ANC and its allies amid competing political strategies and challenges to solidarity.
Sport, arts, and culture minister Gayton McKenzie used a national stage meant for remembrance to sound a political alarm, warning that black disunity within the governing alliance is opening space for what he described as a more disciplined “white strategy”.
“Well, I've done the work of government… I'm putting the government speeches away,” he said.
“When we hear that the ANC and the tripartite alliance are fighting, we get very happy… On a political level, I get very happy,” he said. “But on a level of black unity… we are taking 10 steps back,” McKenzie said.
He contrasted the situation with what he described as strategic cohesion among opposition parties, citing recent by-elections in George involving the DA and the Freedom Front Plus.
“
McKenzie warned that such coordination, set against internal fractures in the alliance, could shift the balance of power.
“I’m saying to you today, if this event… cannot bring you together, there’s no hope for you. You are going to fight until you are out of power, and McKenzies will be in power with the whites.”
“He would see it… and then he would die.
“Moses was the one who led his people out of bondage. He endured the desert with them. He carried their complaints, their doubts, and their wavering faith. He stood between them and destruction more than once.
"He was the one who kept alive the vision of a land that could be free. But God told Moses he would not enter the Promised
He also recounted Hani’s humility, recalling how the late SACP leader once skipped an ANC meeting to watch
"Chris Hani loved
"He sent a letter to the secretary-general of the ANC to say, 'comrade, I'm very sick today. I can't come to the NEC meeting.
"He went to watch football. He didn't go to the VIP section. He sat with the masses, but the camera caught him."
In the end, the ceremony meant to symbolise unity instead revealed a deeper tension, a movement caught between memory and momentum, where yesterday’s solidarity is being tested by today’s strategy.
