GREEN SNAKE IN THE GRASS: EFF Exposes McKenzie’s Alleged 'Massive Capture' of Arts Boards with Patriotic Alliance Cadres

GREEN SNAKE IN THE GRASS: EFF Exposes McKenzie’s Alleged 'Massive Capture' of Arts Boards with Patriotic Alliance Cadres

BY : CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS ONLINE EDITOR KASiBC_AFRiCA 

LISTEN HERE @KASIBCAUDIO

​JOHANNESBURG — The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have launched a devastating political assault on Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie, accusing him of orchestrating a systemic, mafia-style "state capture" of South Africa's cultural boards by stuffing them full of Patriotic Alliance (PA) card-carrying loyalists, family members, and friendly media practitioners.

​In a scathing statement released following a dramatic Portfolio Committee meeting on Tuesday, 2 June 2026, the Red Berets claimed McKenzie has effectively transformed his entire state department into a highly funded employment bureau and patronage network for the PA.

​The Mzansi Golden Economy 'Stink'

​The explosive allegations cracked wide open during a parliamentary review into the state's flagship Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) funding allocation process. The MGE Open Call is the primary financial pipeline meant to distribute multi-million-rand grants to struggling grassroots artists, dancers, and theater groups.

​However, the EFF revealed that during the committee session, sitting members of the state's funding adjudication panel openly confessed under oath that they had been personally handpicked and called by Minister McKenzie to take up the positions.

The Red Berets also flagged a massive nepotism warning over the inclusion of panelist Ms. Shabnam Petersen, who is allegedly directly related to sitting Patriotic Alliance Member of Parliament, Jasmine Shannon Petersen.

​All the Minister's Men: The Boardroom Takeover

​The EFF presented a highly coordinated audit of major national heritage councils, proving that the alleged green "cadre deployment" goes far deeper than a single funding panel.

​The party exposed a staggering concentration of power surrounding a single PA family unit: Ms. Wilma Petra Botha and her son, Mr. Eugene Botha.

​"Gayton McKenzie is treating the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture as though it were a Patriotic Alliance caucus room. Public entities and councils are being populated entirely by political allies, loyalists, and family members," the EFF thundered.

​The Red Berets provided a detailed index of state entities they claim have been compromised by explicit PA deployments:

National Entity / Museum Board	Appointed Executive / Member	Documented Political Allegiance / Affiliation
National Arts Council (NAC)	Mr. Eugene Botha (Chairperson)	McKenzie’s personal defense lawyer and chief PA compliance strategist.
Robben Island Museum	Ms. Wilma Petra Botha (Board Member)	Confirmed PA member; biological mother of NAC Chair Eugene Botha.
Luthuli Museum Council	Ms. Wilma Petra Botha (Chairperson)	Concurrently runs this apex liberation heritage board.
National Film & Video Foundation	Chad Louw & Sydney James	Both board members openly display active PA party affiliations.
Boxing South Africa	Vincent Blennies & Sydney James	Both sitting board members are active PA operatives.

The EFF noted with immense panic that the deployment of Wilma Petra Botha across the Robben Island, Luthuli, uMsunduzi, and Ncome museum councils—while her son controls the National Arts Council—creates an unprecedented family monopoly over the state's heritage machinery.

​Media Capture and Calls for Forensics

​The Red Berets further alleged that McKenzie is actively attempting to buy favorable media compliance by dishing out state board seats to working journalists. The party singled out Yazeed Kamaldien, a current freelance television reporter for Newzroom Afrika, who was allegedly approached directly by the Minister to sit on the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) Council.

​The EFF stated that this blatant patronage is happening while South African legendary musicians, actors, and writers are starving, being exploited by record labels, and dying in absolute poverty.

​The EFF's Immediate Demands:

• ​Forensic Audit: An immediate, independent criminal forensic investigation into every single board, council, and advisory appointment made since McKenzie took office.
• ​Dissolution of Boards: The immediate stripping and dissolution of any board found to have been populated through political favoritism or nepotism.
• ​Parliamentary Overhaul: Shifting the power of arts board appointments away from the Minister's office and into a transparent, public parliamentary vetting process.

NEWS ~ AUDIO ~ VIDEO ~ EVENTS ~ TOURS ~ STORES 

 WWW.KASIBC.BLOGSPOT.COM