PA leader, Gayton McKenzie.

• The PA’s 10th birthday rally at Orlando Stadium was mocked on social media as a disaster. 
• Gayton McKenzie and Kenny Kunene gave varied reasons as to why the Soweto stadium was not filled to capacity. 
• They blamed sabotage from bus companies and food shortages.

Patriotic Alliance (PA) leaders Gayton McKenzie and Kenny Kunene claim their party’s rally at Orlando Stadium flopped because of sabotage, broken down buses, and food shortages. 

The PA hired Orlando Stadium as the venue for the party’s 10th anniversary.

McKenzie and Kunene had promised a big political show, but pictures from the gathering showed the stadium was far from full on Saturday.

News24 has seen pictures showing empty sections of the stadium. 

In response to questions, the PA said there were 20 000 people at some point during the day.

The party added that many more people were expected to attend, but bus companies dropped their services at the last minute, fearing threats.

“Official attendance figures indicate that more than 20 000 people attended the event, despite many acts of sabotage. Many bus companies dropped us at the 11th hour after receiving threats,” PA spokesperson Steve Motale said on Monday. 

READ | How identity politics helped propel the Patriotic Alliance’s growth in 10 years

On his Facebook page, McKenzie said a lack of food caused delays, which forced people to leave the stadium, and some were not allowed back inside. 

“We had had 20 000 people, according to the JOC, that entered the stadium, but due to food, drink and logistics, they left to get food, and they were prevented from returning to the stadium. 

McKenzie said:

Facebook comments on a live video McKenzie conducted on Sunday showed the frustration of some of the party’s supporters. 

One video News24 has seen shows a man, wearing PA regalia, angry about the lack of proper preparation for the rally. The man said the PA should never be involved in politics. 

“It took us the whole day just to get into the stadium. You don’t know politics. You are winging it. You know nothing about politics. You just want to f*** control us. You want to take everything, everything. You want us to do everything. 

“Today, I saw the true colours of many of the PA’s leaders. They just want to use people. I took out loans to make nice PA regalia for people, and you do this sh**t to me,” the unidentified man said in a video. 

Kunene said the party had been sabotaged. 

“Our people were sabotaged by bus services that were called by other politicians and threatened people who were transporting people to the PA rally. Mpumalanga was totally sabotaged, and KwaZulu-Natal was not here,” Kunene told Newzroom Afrika on Monday. 

The deputy president of the PA claimed, without evidence, that many of the buses headed to the rally were shot at and stopped from arriving at Orlando Stadium. 

READ | Patriotic Alliance: From the fringe to kingmakers

“It is opposition. There will be elements in other parties that do not want the PA to fill a stadium because, if the PA fills a stadium, it embarrasses them, and it would show the support for the PA,” Kunene said. 

McKenzie made various allegations while addressing the partially empty stadium – and said that, when the PA ever assumed office, it would switch off the oxygen of foreign nationals at public hospitals. 

Such political talk has been widely criticised by civil society groups as dangerous and part of a growing trend ahead of the 2024 elections.