23-07-2025
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
Sara-Jayne Makwala King 23 July 2025 | 6:32 Kenny Kunene
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
Scroll up to listen to the full conversation from Good Morning Cape Town.
