Fees Must Fall activist joins the PA Party
FORMER Fees Must Fall activist, Bonginkosi Khanyile, was unveiled ysterday as a new member of Gayton Mackenzie's Patriotic Alliance (PA)
Khanyile, who hails from Nkandla, out on bail for allegedly inciting violence in July last year after the arrest of former President Jacob Zuma, is a former EFF member.
Recently, he publicly exchanged heated words with the party’s Marshall Dlamini and Mandla Shikwambana. Their differences were over how operation Dudula was treating foreigners in the country.
Unveiling Khanyile, PA’s deputy president Kenny Kunene said he was an activist of note.
“A man that put his life for Fees Must Fall, for the students of this country to get what they are supposed to get, which is free education, a young man that continues to inspire the youth, a young man that has been treated like a terrorist in this country when he highlights the plight of young people,” Kunene said in his introduction of Khanyile.
On coalitions, Kunene was frank and said they are in a fragile coalition with the ANC in the North West and Gauteng. As a result, they wanted to pull out, but an intervention by Gauteng ANC deputy chairperson, Panyaza Lesufi and the governing party in the province, decided to give the coalition another chance, pending talks to remedy the fallout.
“There are challenges in North West and here in Gauteng, especially in J B Marks (Potchefstroom), we are in a fragile, very fragile coalition partnership with the ANC at J B Marks Municipality. And here at West Rand Municipality, we are very fragile, this comes because of lack of consultation, lack of communication, our MMCs (Members of Mayoral Committees) there are made spectators, when they are there to serve our people,” he said
Despite pulling out of coalitions with the DA in the Western Cape, Kunene said they would not do so in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.
“One must make it categorically clear that the coalition in Johannesburg and the coalition in Ekurhuleni are very much safe. Our MMCs have given us positive reports on how they are working with the mayor of Johannesburg and the mayor of Ekurhuleni. So where we are standing now, as of today, we intend to keep the coalition for five years, but that will also depend on the behaviour of the DA,” he said.
Kunene also clarified that the PA is not xenophobic. Instead, it was more concerned with putting South Africans first.