Illustrative image | Former Joburg transport MMC Kenny Kunene. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sharon Seretlo) | Liam Jacobs. (Photo: Gallo Images / Fani Mahuntsi) 
Liam Jacobs is the new councillor for the Patriotic Alliance (PA) in the City of Johannesburg, PA president Gayton McKenzie announced on Monday evening, 28 July, during an address to party supporters.
Jacobs replaced the party’s deputy president, Kenny Kunene, who resigned last week after being found at the Sandton house of murder accused Katiso “KT” Molefe when police were there to arrest Molefe.
“The party is deploying Liam Jacobs as the new councillor in the City of Johannesburg,” said McKenzie.
He said Jacobs needed local government experience. The former DA MP was announced as the PA’s mayoral candidate in Tshwane for the 2026 local government elections earlier in July.
“You’re about to fix the potholes of Joburg. So you can know what is expected of you when you run Pretoria,” said McKenzie.
While Jacobs will fill Kunene’s council seat, it’s unclear whether he will take over Kunene’s role as mayoral committee member (MMC) for transport.
Kunene made headlines after he was found at the home of Molefe, who was arrested in connection with the killing of Oupa Sefoka, popularly known as DJ Sumbody, in a 2022 drive-by shooting in Woodmead, Johannesburg. Sefoka died alongside his bodyguard after the vehicle they were travelling in was peppered with bullets.
As Daily Maverick reported, Kunene claimed he was not friends with Molefe, but had visited the Sandton house in his capacity as the owner of online publication African News Global. He had gone there with an unnamed individual who had arranged for Kunene’s media company to conduct an exclusive interview with Molefe.
Read more: Kenny Kunene and the growing gangsterisation of our politics
During his address to his supporters, McKenzie also said Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero would appoint a new MMC to replace Kunene. As Daily Maverick reported, in addition to Kunene’s position needing replacing, Morero needs to appoint a new MMC for finance, since Margaret Arnolds has shifted to the role of council Speaker.
From Parliament to Joburg
Jacobs joins the PA’s 10-seat caucus. Following the 2021 municipal elections, the PA received 2.93% of the vote in Johannesburg, enough for eight seats in the council. The party has since gained two more ward seats.
In March 2025, when the PA won its 10th seat in a by-election, elections analyst Wayne Sussman wrote: “The PA is the only party to win new seats in by-elections in Johannesburg since 2021.”
This will be Jacobs’s first leadership role since joining the PA during a midnight announcement on Youth Day. Before joining the PA he had been a member of the DA and head of the party’s students’ organisation at university.
McKenzie said he expects Jacobs to “continue the good work the DP [Kunene] has been doing”.
In 2024, he was sworn in as an MP and sat on the oversight committee on sports, arts and culture, of which McKenzie was the minister. Jacobs had been a critic of McKenzie’s department, often posting on social media about various alleged failures in the department and its entities.
Jacobs also used social media to showcase himself, posing questions to officials, which built his profile among supporters as a rising politician who kept officials on their toes. Critics viewed his online presence and style of questioning as brash.
When Jacobs left the DA, another rising star in the party, deputy federal chairperson and campaign manager Ashor Sarupen told EWN that Jacobs had made a “huge mistake” and that “he’ll come to regret it”.
Since his departure Jacobs has been working within the PA doing by-election work, using the same kind of social media blitz. This is something he will bring to the party’s Johannesburg caucus in the hope of solidifying more support for the party in the lead-up to the 2026 elections.
Read more: Patriotic Alliance crisis — McKenzie set to announce next move in Kunene saga
Jacobs was not immediately available for comment. But he posted on X:
Pointing out problems is easy.
Fixing the problem is the real work.
Let’s get to the REAL work! 🕳️
Salute 💚🙏
— Liam Jacobs (@LiamJacobsZA) July 29, 2025
PA deputy position vacant
Addressing internal matters – and social media rumours of Jacobs replacing Kunene as deputy president – McKenzie said: “Liam is not the DP (deputy president) of the PA.”
McKenzie claimed this was gossip coming from outside the PA.
“For as long as the result of the deputy president (Kunene) is not out yet, we will not have a DP,” said McKenzie.
According to McKenzie, the party will, within about 48 hours, announce a legal firm that will investigate the circumstances of Kunene’s presence at Molefe’s house. Among the issues the firm would probe was locating the journalist who reportedly accompanied Kunene and how Kunene was able to get Molefe’s address.
Kunene remains under a 30-day suspension from party activities.
McKenzie, who is best friends with Kunene (they are godparents to each other’s children), said this was done to show transparency. He claimed information would come out to show “the DP was set up”, but that the party needed to investigate what happened. DM