A storm has erupted around the head of the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, after old tweets, purportedly posted by the Patriotic Alliance leader, resurfaced, in which he allegedly uses derogatory language to describe black people.
In the old tweets, some dating back to 2011, McKenzie allegedly uses the K-word repeatedly.
Over the weekend, Vuyo Zungula of the African Transformation Movement reposted screenshots of some of the old tweets, followed by a letter to Parliament and the Presidency, urging an urgent investigation and removal of McKenzie as Minister.
Zungula says while McKenzie recently positioned himself as a defender of the coloured community in response to racially insensitive remarks by young podcasters on the Open Chats podcast, there is an “irreconcilable hypocrisy at play.”
“These young individuals are not elected officials. They do not wield the power of a Cabinet portfolio. They do not carry the constitutional and ethical obligations that a Minister must uphold at all times. Minister McKenzie does, and yet, the very language he has used in the past mirrors and arguably exceeds the harm of the podcasters’ remarks. Being a member of the coloured community does not exempt him from accountability, nor does it grant him license to demean, insult, and target black people, the demographic majority of our nation.”
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Several other political parties have called for action to be taken against the Minister.
The EFF has called for his immediate removal from Cabinet.
“It is also the height of hypocrisy for McKenzie to demand accountability from others when he harbours the same hateful attitudes. Recently, when podcasters on “Open Chats” made offensive remarks about Coloured people — calling them “incestuous” and “crazy” — McKenzie expressed outrage, opened a case against them, and demanded a public apology. While he was right to be offended by prejudice directed at his community, this double standard strips him of any moral or ethical standing to lead on issues of non-racialism and social cohesion.”
ActionSA lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.
“ActionSA joined South Africans in condemning vile and repugnant remarks directed toward the Coloured community. Today, we do the same in confronting racism in all its forms by holding a sitting Cabinet Minister accountable for comments that no reasonable person can defend as anything other than racist and demeaning.”
The DA says there must be consequences.
“The DA expects that this matter will be dealt with in line with the same standards as others who perpetuate hate and division, as there should be no place for double standards and hateful race-based division in South Africa, whether it comes from a podcaster, from a GNU party leader, or from singing hate-filled chants about killing people based on ethnicity. In past circumstances, the use of the K-word has had serious sanctions in South Africa, including dismissal, and we expect that will be the natural consequence here too.”
McKenzie has defended himself, denying that he is a racist. In a long Facebook Live on Sunday night, McKenzie even questioned whether some of the tweets purported to have been authored by him are real or fake.
He says he will not resign, but welcomes the Human Rights Commission investigation.
“Accuse me of being an a**hole, I’ll plead guilty to that; accuse me of being insensitive, I’ll plead guilty to that. Stupid? I’ll plead guilty, but racist? Never.”
