The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has initiated legal proceedings against Democratic Alliance (DA) Member of Parliament, Renaldo Gouws, in response to racist comments he made on YouTube 16 years ago.
In the footage, Gouws can be heard saying:
“Alright so there’s a couple of things I want to say. Kill the fing kffirs, kill all the fing nggers. That’s all I gotta fing say. Kill all the kffirs! Kill all the fing nggers!”
Gouws has denied making these offensive remarks.
Despite his denial, the DA suspended Gouws on Thursday morning after confirming the authenticity of the video, which they initially suspected might have been altered using Artificial Intelligence.
In an official statement, the SAHRC said:
“The South African Human Rights Commission (the SAHRC) will today [Thursday] institute proceedings at the Equality Court in Gqeberha against Mr Renaldo Gouws, a Member of Parliament, for the alleged racial utterances relating to online media posts.
“In the video, Mr Gouws allegedly calls for the killing of Black people using extremely offensive and derogatory language. This explicit content, initially published on his YouTube channel in March 2010, was archived despite being deleted and has resurfaced, revealing behaviour that is incompatible with the principles of dignity and equality enshrined in South African law.”
The Commission’s decision to act was influenced by numerous social media tags from concerned citizens demanding intervention.
There have also been calls from the public for the DA to remove Gouws from his parliamentary position.
Following a thorough review of the video content, the SAHRC concluded:
“Following assessment of the content, the Commission has concluded that utterances allegedly made by Mr Gouws constitute hate speech and/or harassment as contemplated in terms of sections 10 and 11 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 2000 (PEPUDA or Equality Act).”
Gouws was recently sworn in as an MP in Cape Town during the first sitting of parliament last week.
Social Media Opinion
Even their former leaders like Maimane, Mashaba, Mazibuko are witnesses who’ve told us about the racism operation of DA in itself. Absolutely ✊🏾
Boity Cassper A-Reece #KwaMaiMain Kaffir Fikile Mbalula Malema Cabinet Kaizer Chiefs pic.twitter.com/ygYnmTsQCi
— Sphola (@S_Phola__) June 20, 2024
[RACISM] “I was dating a black guy & Afrikaans white people would say I’m downgrading myself,😳😳
I was called a KFC (Kaffir-Fcvkin-Chick)”😭
Anita Ronge was raised in a Afrikaans home, now relates more with the black culture than hers.
Diddy Dr Matthew #podcastandchill Jay Z pic.twitter.com/ODiAwmPnXz
— YaseBlock B 🇸🇿 (@ThisIsColbert) November 17, 2023
