PA's Kenny Kunene found at suspected killer's home during raid: ‘You can't make this stuff up' - Oscar van Heerden, University of Johannesburg
Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit
Lester Kiewit
Acting Johannesburg Mayor Kenny Kunene (centre) addressed the media on 1 July 2025 during raids on buildings in Johannesburg's CBD suspected of harbouring undocumented immigrants. Picture: Simphiwe Nkosi/EWN
CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit speaks to Oscar van Heerden, a Senior Research Fellow for African Diplomacy and Leadership at the University of Johannesburg.
Listen below:
The Patriotic Alliance (PA) is supporting its deputy president, Kenny Kunene, who has come under fire for his alleged relationships with suspected underworld figures.
The party says Kunene did nothing wrong after he was found at the home of a suspected killer during a police raid.
On Monday, when police arrived to arrest controversial businessman Katiso 'KT' Molefe at his Sandton home, Kunene was also there.
Molefe is accused of being the mastermind behind the 2022 killing of Oupa Sefoka, popularly known as DJ Sumbody. "You can't make this stuff up." - Oscar van Heerden, African Diplomacy and Leadership - University of Johannesburg
On Tuesday, Kunene broke his silence, saying that while he knows Molefe, the pair are not friends.
Kunene said he was at Molefe's house, accompanying a young journalist who was interviewing the businessman for his website, Africa News Global.
PA national spokesperson Steve Motale said the party accepts Kunene's version of events. "I think it would have been far better if Kenny Kunene simply had just said, 'I visited a friend, and unfortunately I was at the wrong place at the wrong time.'" - Oscar van Heerden, African Diplomacy and Leadership - University of Johannesburg
Van Heerden says it's no secret that the likes of Kenny Kunene and Gayton McKenzie have been part of the underworld and have spent time behind bars. "And one can expect that, even though they are now within the political arena and the political class, they would still have friends that would operate in that underworld." - Oscar van Heerden, African Diplomacy and Leadership - University of Johannesburg
Such connections don't necessarily implicate them in criminal activity, says van Heerden.
What is clear, he says, is that, as was the case during the apartheid era, ties between the criminal underworld and political elites run deep.
Kiewit asks, "Should we not be worried by members of our political class keeping the company of known criminals?" "Oh, we should be very worried. It's certainly not how it should be, and it shouldn't be condoned." - Oscar van Heerden, African Diplomacy and Leadership - University of Johannesburg
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Daily Maverick
4 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
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The discovery of Johannesburg councillor and deputy Patriotic Alliance leader Kenny Kunene in the company of the person wanted for paying for DJ Sumbody to be killed is a symbol of our times. It demonstrates the growing criminalisation, or some might call 'gangsterisation', of our politics. This has the potential to completely destabilise our politics, never mind all of the other consequences for our economy and our country. The fact that Kenny Kunene was found with Katiso 'KT' Molefe, who is accused of being the mastermind behind the hit on DJ Sumbody (Oupa John Sefoka), may well have surprised very few people. While Kunene claims that he has mended his ways since serving time in jail, his behaviour has shown in the past that he still has links to this community. It is true that people voted for the Patriotic Alliance knowing the history of both Kunene and its leader Gayton McKenzie. None of what they have done was a secret. But it may be a sign that the PA has ambitions of becoming more mainstream that McKenzie has now 'suspended' Kunene from 'all politics' for a month. That said, McKenzie's public proclamation that 'We already know… that he is innocent' may well cast doubt on the real integrity of the investigation he is now going to institute. Of course both men have a long history of dirty politics. The two were suspected of being behind the publishing of claims in Iqbal Surve's Sunday Independent that President Cyril Ramaphosa had had an affair in 2017, during the run-up to the ANC's Nasrec Conference. Certainly, from the vantage point of this writer at the time, they were acting against Ramaphosa. This was probably explained by the fact McKenzie and Kunene had been selected, presumably by then president Jacob Zuma, as BEE partners for a R5-billion gas and oil deal in Russia. 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The South African
5 hours ago
- The South African
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IOL News
7 hours ago
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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Speaking to a TV channel, he claimed he was accompanying a young journalist from his own media company, hoping to help them land an exclusive interview with Molefe about the murder case. 'These are young journalists,' Kunene said. 'This would've been a great exclusive for them. It was a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.' 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