GANGS AND GOVERNANCE: Gayton McKenzie comes off as gangster’s proxy for sharing untested claims about JP Smith

{JSON.stringify(article.attachments[0], null, 2)} --> In a video shared on social media, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie says that a 28s gangster phoned him and claimed the City of Cape Town’s JP Smith once worked for an organised crime accused. The claim had yet to be probed. This means a Cabinet minister publicised the unchecked accusations of a gangster whose access to him is itself questionable.

We are in real trouble when a public servant – a Cabinet minister, no less – legitimises the unchecked words of a gangster.

Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie, who heads the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and who has been open about his past involvement in gangsterism, recently did just this.

McKenzie claimed, in a video shared on social media, that a member of the 28s gang phoned him and said that City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith, of the Democratic Alliance (DA), had worked at alleged organised crime boss Mark Lifman’s security company.

We won’t hear Lifman’s side of this saga because he was killed in a shooting in the Western Cape town of George in late 2024, while on trial for a murder conspiracy .

As for Smith, he brushed off McKenzie’s claims as another smear attempt by a rival politician to link him to organised crime.

What follows here is not to defend or demonise a politician or their political party.

This is to highlight an action – what appears to be slapdash politicking involving a Cabinet minister sharing uncorroborated claims which he says emanate from a gangster.

We cannot accept the further blurring of lines between gangsters and government officials.

Already, various politicians’ names have surfaced at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry , which is investigating whether a criminal cartel has infiltrated the state.

McKenzie got caught up in one of countless offshoot scandals – a convicted fraudster claimed the Cabinet minister was connected to that cartel, the drugs side of it, which McKenzie denied.

Like many other politicians, McKenzie has spoken out against gang violence.

The ministry he heads – sport, arts and culture – represents avenues that can divert individuals from paths that lead to gangsterism… to bullets.

This is why McKenzie’s position demands responsibility and a mind that understands the depths and breadth of what his remit can potentially provide.