Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie. Picture: Michel Bega
The Patriotic Alliance (PA) has disbanded all provincial, regional and ward structures in five provinces with immediate effect.
PA president Gayton McKenzie announced the decision on Monday.
This follows the dismal performance of the party in the recent national and provincial elections.
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Nationally, the party received 330 425 votes, making it the 6th biggest party in the country.
In the 2019 election, the PA received 7 029 votes.
The majority of PA voters are in the Western Cape, where it received 145 913 votes, compared to Limpopo and Mpumalanga, where it failed to make it into the top 10.
On Monday, McKenzie announced the party had decided to disband its structures in the Free State, North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal with immediate effect.
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“Following the outcomes of the 2024 national and provincial election, the national executive committee of the party sat down to evaluate the performance of the party across all provinces and various decisions have been taken,” reads the party’s statement.
“Members of the NEC will visit the provinces to assess and restructure.
“All councillors and political appointees will also be evaluated and possibly restructured after a sit-down with the leadership.”
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McKenzie said the decision to disband structures was for the party to regroup in the provinces to come back stronger.
“The survival of the PA depends on results. Without results, we die. We carry the hopes of a nation and we dare not fail,” said McKenzie.
“I pray that the new leaders will learn from the mistakes of previous leaders and I hope those that will be retained will do some deep self-introspection.
“PA will bounce back stronger and ready in these five provinces. We will never give up on our Patriots there.”
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