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No salary, mayoral car, bodyguards or petrol for me, says new Karoo mayor Gayton McKenzie

Newly elected mayor of the Central Karoo district Gayton McKenzie.
Newly elected mayor of the Central Karoo district Gayton McKenzie.
Image: Twitter/ Kenny Kunene

Newly appointed mayor of the Central Karoo district Gayton McKenzie has pledged 100% of his salary towards fixing the municipality.

In his maiden speech delivered after being elected unopposed on Monday, McKenzie said: “I came here to come and give. That is why I will donate 100% of my salary. While the enemy is busy checking which land they can build, I’m going to give 100% to start fixing the pools for our children.”

The Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader, with the gold mayoral chains draped about his neck, was applauded.

“I will not have a mayoral vehicle,” McKenzie continued.

“The mayoral vehicle must be sold and an ambulance must be bought with the funds.

“I will not say for any petrol or expenses. I want to cost this municipality nothing,” he said, adding he also did not want bodyguards.

When my time here is over, I will this municipality my life because it has given me the opportunity to give back to the people
Gayton McKenzie, Central Karoo mayor

McKenzie said even the food eaten at his inauguration had not cost the municipality a cent because he had paid for everything from his personal funds.

PA deputy head Kenny Kunene took to Twitter to congratulate McKenzie. The two are reformed former convicts who have made moves in the world of politics.

Their party emerged as a kingmaker when it entered into a coalition with the ANC after Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba resigned in 2019.

The Sunday Times has seen a video in which McKenzie boasts about the takeover and says: ‘‘I do not play with power.’’

Regarding his past, McKenzie has always insisted it remains the past.

“They can call us criminals. Yes, we did commit crimes three decades ago. We went to jail, we paid for our crimes. We share our riches because we know what it is not to have,” McKenzie said in a post on his Twitter page.

TimesLIVE


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