Johannesburg– Gayton McKenzie, the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture in South Africa, is facing mounting pressure as opposition parties demand his resignation following the re-emergence of historical social media posts containing racial slurs and disparaging comments about black people The controversy ignited after McKenzie’s Patriotic Alliance (PA) initiated legal action against the podcast “Open Chats” for making derogatory remarks about coloured people In response, users on X (formerly Twitter) began scrutinising McKenzie’s past social media activity, unearthing a series of offensive posts In posts dating back to 2015, McKenzie repeatedly used a racial slur, and appeared to equate terms such as “tenderpreneur” and “black diamond” to calling individuals “a better k*****”
Further back in 2013, McKenzie attributed a statement to Mahatma Gandhi, saying: “A k*****’s sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with and then pass his life in indolence and nakedness.” This statement echoes sentiments Gandhi expressed in an 1896 speech in India In 2011, McKenzie also wrote that black people who complain about white people adopting black children should be shot In another post, he suggested that not all white people who make black people ride in the back of their vehicles are racist, attributing it to hygiene, stating: “Some of these guys stink as hell.”
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) swiftly called for McKenzie’s immediate removal as minister They released a statement saying that it is the “height of hypocrisy for McKenzie to demand accountability from others when he himself harbours the same hateful attitudes”
African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader Vuyo Zungula has also urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to take action against McKenzie In a post on X, Zungula questioned: “President Ramaphosa, you appointed a minister who has publicly uttered deeply offensive and despicable words against black people Is this really the vision of unity and inclusivity that the GNU stands for We demand action NOW!”
ActionSA has taken a more concrete step by reporting McKenzie’s old posts to the Human Rights Commission (SAHRC)
In a statement released on Saturday, 9 August, they said that this was because he repeatedly used hateful slurs from the Apartheid era, along with other offensive references that served to degrade and dehumanise black South Africans “While we hold reservations about the effectiveness of the SAHRC, it remains the constitutionally empowered institution mandated to address such matters Accordingly, we will follow the prescribed process, but are fully prepared to independently institute proceedings at the Equality Court in terms of Section 20 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act,” they said The party said that earlier this week, they 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.”
Source: My Zimbabwe
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Source: Myzimbabwe
