Gayton McKenzie comes off as gangster’s proxy for sharing untested claims about JP Smith

We are in real trouble when a public servant – a Cabinet minister, no less – legitimises the unchecked words of a gangster.

Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie, who heads the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and who has been open about his past involvement in gangsterism, recently did just this.

That’s if we take him at his word.

McKenzie claimed, in a video shared on social media, that a member of the 28s gang phoned him and said that City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith, of the Democratic Alliance (DA), had worked at alleged organised crime boss Mark Lifman’s security company.

We won’t hear Lifman’s side of this saga because he was killed in a shooting in the Western Cape town of George in late 2024, while on trial for a murder conspiracy.

As for Smith, he brushed off McKenzie’s claims as another smear attempt by a rival politician to link him to organised crime.

What follows here is not to defend or demonise a politician or their political party.

This is to highlight an action – what appears to be slapdash politicking involving a Cabinet minister sharing uncorroborated claims which he says emanate from a gangster.

ANALYSIS

SA’s organised crime — suspicions blur lines between ‘gangsters’, celebrities and flashy politicians

July 23, 2025

We cannot accept the further blurring of lines between gangsters and government officials.

Already, various politicians’ names have surfaced at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, which is investigating whether a criminal cartel has infiltrated the state.

McKenzie got caught up in one of countless offshoot scandals – a convicted fraudster claimed the Cabinet minister was connected to that cartel, the drugs side of it, which McKenzie denied.

28s gangster has a minister’s ear

Like many other politicians, McKenzie has spoken out against gang violence.

The ministry he heads – sport, arts and culture – represents avenues that can divert individuals from paths that lead to gangsterism…  to bullets.

This is why McKenzie’s position demands responsibility and a mind that understands the depths and breadth of what his remit can potentially provide.

The claims against Smith were shared in the video clip that recently spread quickly on social media.

McKenzie is seen looking into a camera and saying: “A member of the 28 called me. I’m going to investigate it […]

“He says to me, ‘Pres, my bru, JP Smith het gewerk vir Mark Lifman.’” [Pres, my bru, JP Smith worked for Mark Lifman.]

McKenzie says he was also told that Smith worked at Lifman’s “security company” (it’s not clear when) and that his “investigators” were checking whether this was true.

“JP Smith was Mark Lifman se boy. Now I’m, we’re, checking that out,” McKenzie adds.

Go public first, establish ‘facts’ later?

The video does not appear to have been posted to any of McKenzie’s own social media accounts.

Given that deepfakes are now a reality, and in case he had more to share (like whether the gangster caller was in jail), Daily Maverick checked with the PA this week whether it was indeed McKenzie and his words in the video.

No response had been received three days after Daily Maverick asked the questions.

Queries to McKenzie’s ministry were also not responded to.

So, without him denying it was him in the video, which some other publications referenced in reports, we can accept that it was him.

This would mean that instead of first thoroughly testing claims passed on to him by someone he has described as a “28 gangster”, McKenzie decided to disseminate uncorroborated claims.

His actions do not suggest a considered approach.

And let’s not even get started on how and why a 28s gangster is phoning McKenzie, who took the call.

Enter ‘Red Stevens’

Smith pointed this out when hitting back at McKenzie on social media, also stating in part: “It is laughable to think that Gayton McKenzie is trying so hard to link me to organised crime while the Secretary General of the Patriotic Alliance is the daughter of the notorious gangster Red Williams”.

Mention of “Red Williams” actually seems to refer to William “Red” Stevens.

He was widely viewed as the most seasoned 27s gangster in the Western Cape and was murdered in a shooting in 2021.

Chinelle Stevens, his daughter, is indeed a PA member.

A Facebook post in her name from 2021 referred to a meeting McKenzie once apparently had with her dad to discuss getting current and former gangsters to vote PA.

Stevens was a co-accused in the trial in which Lifman was also facing criminal charges, which means both were killed while in court for the same murder.

This also means McKenzie’s link to Stevens indirectly connected him to Lifman.

Daily Maverick has before reported that McKenzie spoke at Stevens’ funeral.

Contested cop raids

The claims that McKenzie shared about Lifman and Smith now add to other controversies that Smith has become central to.

Last year, the South African Police Service (SAPS) raided his office along with that of Xanthea Limberg, who heads the City of Cape Town’s energy portfolio.

The SAPS is widely viewed as an ANC remit while Smith and Limberg are DA politicians.

The raids on their offices appeared to be linked to an investigation into, among others, alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his businesswoman wife Nicole Johnson.

They both face several criminal charges and previously faced accusations that they headed an unlawful tender enterprise connected with the Cape Town municipality.

After the office raids, Smith alleged these were part of a politically motivated smear campaign against him.

He and Limberg legally challenged the police action, and a high court declared the search and seizure warrants were unlawful.

According to a News24 report, they are also suing the police.

That’s not all.

‘Dangerous undertaking’

National Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams recently testified at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that Smith was behind an attempt on his life.

Adams first made such claims in 2025.

Some context: There are court cases involving the City of Cape Town and allegedly dubious tenders. Adams previously lodged complaints with authorities in this arena.

In a statement he submitted to the Madlanga Commission last month, he said he had a WhatsApp message and recording from a DA councillor, Deirdre de Vos, and City of Cape Town housing head Carl Pophaim, “alleging that Alderman JP Smith attempted to instigate a former gang boss to deal with me in a particularly threatening manner”.

Adams had added: “Simply put, I believe that fighting corruption in Cape Town has proven to be a dangerous undertaking.”

Responding to what Adams recently told the Madlanga Commission, Smith said: “I am aware that Fadiel Adams has once again attempted to smear my name by repeating baseless claims he first made in 2025.

“I stand by my previous statements that Adams has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims without evidence, and that the same SAPS officials who participated in the unlawful and unconstitutional raid of my office subsequently entertained his allegations.”

This means Smith believes Adams’ claims and the raid on his office, which a court deemed unlawful, are connected.

Curious timing

An associate of Adams recently posted on social media about a threatening call they apparently once received from Lifman, who warned them to back off from Smith.

That echoes what McKenzie has stated about the claims that a 28s gangster apparently made to him – that Smith worked for Lifman.

The veracity of the claims aside, the obvious question arises: why are these Lifman assertions only surfacing now?

Well, South Africa is headed towards local government elections.

Politicians will politick.

Beneath the accusation crossfire, there is constant harrowing violence and compounding trauma rooted in what they seem to be sparring about.

Reality – 251 gang murders in 3 months

According to the latest official SAPS statistics released last week, between April and June 2026 there were 251 gang-related murders in South Africa.

Most of those killings – 217 – were in the Western Cape.

The province (where Smith and Adams are based) therefore retains its tragic title as the country’s gang violence capital.

FOR CONTEXT

In Cape Flats, a shocking crisis unfolds as 157 children fall victim to gang violence over five years, highlighting the perilous reality of growing up in a war zone where safety is a distant dream.

December 3, 2025

To try to stymie gangsterism and violence, politicians should take related issues very seriously.

Some do.

But it comes across as flippant – even crass when taking the murder toll into account – to publicise unverified claims from a gangster on social media.

A mouthpiece

Politicians with potentially incriminating information about others have appropriate channels to work through.

If politicians do not trust the SAPS, an alternate private route may be the way to go.

Obviously, if any politician is found to have colluded with criminals, action should be taken against them.

For now, though, McKenzie’s sharing of unverified claims from someone he has described as a gang member simply creates the impression that a Cabinet minister was a public mouthpiece – a proxy – for that gangster.

This is grim in a country where gang-related killings are relentlessly claiming lives and where countless residents with legitimate information, potential whistleblowers, do not have direct access to people in powerful government positions.

They do not have the privilege of a gangster who can call a minister who will amplify their voice. DM