Gayton McKenzie | |
---|---|
Member of the National Assembly of South Africa | |
Assumed office 14 June 2024 | |
Executive Mayor of the Central Karoo District Municipality | |
In office 11 April 2022 – 2 May 2023 | |
Deputy | Gideon Petersen |
Preceded by | Johanna Botha |
Member of the Laingsburg Municipal Council | |
In office 7 April 2022 – 14 June 2024 | |
Preceded by | Mitchell Smith |
President of the
Patriotic Alliance Founder of the Patriotic Alliance | |
Assumed office 15 November 2013 | |
Deputy | Kenny Kunene |
Preceded by | Party founded |
Personal details | |
Born | Gayton McKenzie 10 March 1974 [1] Heidedal, Orange Free State, South Africa |
Political party | Patriotic Alliance (2013–present) |
Other political affiliations | African National Congress (before 2013) |
Spouse |
Nicolette Joubert (
m. 2003) |
Children | 2 |
Occupation |
|
Gayton McKenzie (born 10 March 1974) is a South African politician and convicted criminal, who was previously jailed for robbery for 17 years. [2] [3] [4] He is a businessman, motivational speaker, author and former Executive Mayor of the Central Karoo District Municipality in South Africa. He is also the president of the Patriotic Alliance political party. [5] He came to prominence in the early 2000s for his role in a prison exposé that eventually led to his early release amid an investigation of prison corruption by the Jali Commission of Inquiry. [6] McKenzie grew up in the Heidedal neighborhood of Bloemfontein, South Africa. [7]
McKenzie used his story of changing from a life of crime [8] during the apartheid years in South Africa to attaining success as a businessman as the basis for his popular motivational talks. He travelled to many schools in South Africa during his early years as a speaker, sponsored by a security company. [9]
He has gone on to work as a consultant in the mining industry in Zimbabwe [10] and runs a diversified business with interests in restaurants, hotels and events venues, logistics and transport, imports, mining, energy, entertainment and events, publishing and farming.
Many of his books have been bestsellers in South Africa, starting with The Choice: The Gayton McKenzie Story. [11] Other books include A Hustler's Bible, [12] The Uncomfortable Truth, [13] Trapped, [14] Kill Zuma By Any Means Necessary, [15] and A Hustler's Bible, The New Testament. [16]
McKenzie launched the Patriotic Alliance political party on 30 November 2013, and became the party's first president. McKenzie, along with long-time friend Kenny Kunene, have become known for using open letters to provoke political debate, cause controversy and attract attention. [17] Kunene left the Economic Freedom Fighters months after its formation [18] before helping to launch the Patriotic Alliance.
At the end of April 2014, just more than a week before the elections of 7 May, McKenzie wrote a highly critical open letter to Economic Freedom Fighters president Julius Malema, which gained widespread attention. [19] In the letter and in subsequent interviews, McKenzie referred to Malema as the "biggest threat facing South Africa". This was based partly on the EFF's policies on land expropriation and nationalisation. The primary criticism, however, was focused on the character of Malema himself, whom he accused of not being a real revolutionary, a "false prophet" whose promises would take South Africa to civil war and someone who had "stolen" significant amounts of public money during his political ascent. [19] Malema dismissed the letter as predictable rhetoric prior to an election. [20]