The Patriotic Alliance, with its controversial leaders and hardline on illegal immigrants, has become the sixth-biggest party in the National Assembly. As the party stakes its political claim, it is unlikely to soften its stance.

The Patriotic Alliance (PA) says it took "lots of hard work and belief" for the party to win nine seats in the incoming Parliament and a further 10 seats in provincial legislatures across the country. The 2024 election campaign was its most successful to date.

The party, formed in 2013, is best known for its controversial leaders, former convicted criminals-turned-businessmen-turned-politicians, Gayton McKenzie and Kenny Kunene.

In their first elections in 2014, the party barely left a mark with just 13,263 votes. In 2019, the party received an even more dismal 6,660 votes. But in this year's general elections, the PA raked in 330,425 votes, securing sixth place in the National Assembly.

Independent elections analyst Wayne Sussman told Daily Maverick the party's growth could be attributed to a few things, particularly McKenzie's ability to "seize an issue which tears the community apart and run with it and establish himself". One example of this was the killing of 16-year-old Nathaniel Julies, a boy from Eldorado Park who was shot by police in 2020.

"I mean that is the way he established himself in Gauteng," said Sussman.

There was also the posturing around xenophobia, said Sussman. The PA campaigned on the deportation of...