Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Patriotic Alliance (PA) has expressed confidence in its suspended deputy president, Kenny Kunene, saying he will be cleared to contest for the Joburg mayorship.
PA leader Gayton McKenzie announced Kunene would be the party’s mayoral candidate for Joburg during a Facebook live stream this week. This is despite his suspension after he was found at murder suspect Katiso “KT” Molefe’s house.
An internal investigation was launched by the party to investigate Kunene’s alleged involvement with Molefe.
In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, PA spokesperson Steve Motale said while investigations are ongoing, Kunene is not taking part in any party activities but will contest for the Joburg mayorship once cleared.
“For him to campaign, we’ll wait for the investigation to be completed and for him to be cleared, after which he will resume his party activities,” Motale said.
He maintained the party believes Kunene is innocent, but should the results come back against him, the party will find a replacement.
“We are confident the inquiry will clear him. We have appointed an external, reputable firm of lawyers because we want Kunene to clear his name so that when he comes back, he doesn’t have any dark cloud hanging over his head.
“In the event of there being an adverse finding against him, Kunene won’t even wait for the party to make a pronouncement. He will voluntarily relinquish his positions in the party as well as his mayoral candidacy for the city.”
Motale said the announcement of Kunene’s candidacy was not something new.
“It was announced several months ago, long before the unfortunate events that took place. What McKenzie did was to confirm him and make a few changes to other mayoral candidates.
“It’s not a new announcement. He has been the PA’s Joburg mayoral candidate for several months now.”
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
