Bakkie crash post sparks bitter political feud between Gayton McKenzie and Liam Jacobs

Following a Facebook post by Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie about a bakkie crash, tensions have escalated into a bitter political feud with former Patriotic Alliance ally Liam Jacobs. McKenzie shared a photograph of a crashed bakkie, stating that his aunt had told him the occupants were discussing the Patriotic Alliance.

"We are glad no one is injured but hou onse name uit julle monde asseblief (but keep our names out of your mouths please)," McKenzie wrote. Later, it was revealed that the person involved in the crash had died in the hospital.

Jacobs responded with a video accusing McKenzie of politicizing a young man's death and questioning the minister's response to the tragedy. He expressed his inability to understand how the death could be treated as a political matter and criticized the use of laughing emojis in response to McKenzie's comments. McKenzie defended his post, stating that there had been no initial reports of injuries and that he sympathized with the family.

However, he accused the Democratic Alliance (DA) of lying and politicizing the death, mentioning that his own family had also faced insults and accusations.

The fallout soon involved PA national chairperson and MP Marlon Daniels. Jacobs accused Daniels of threatening him with a "necklace" had the incident occurred before 1994, referring to the practice of using a noose to punish political opponents during apartheid. Daniels responded by warning Jacobs that he was "digging his own grave" and that his future was uncertain. McKenzie then threatened Jacobs with a similar fate, stating that the Patriotic Alliance would come after him next.

The dispute extended to social media platform X, where McKenzie accused another DA member of altering his original Facebook post. In response, McKenzie threatened legal action against the person he accused of editing the post. The relationship between McKenzie and Jacobs, which had already been strained, became even more tense following Jacobs' departure from the DA and joining McKenzie's Patriotic Alliance in June 2025. Jacobs later returned to the DA in June 2026, accusing McKenzie and the PA of misleading him.