The SA Human Rights Commission has concluded that utterances allegedly made by Renaldo Gouws constitute hate speech and/or harassment. The Commission was instituting proceedings at the Equality Court on Thursday.
The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is taking action against Democratic Alliance (DA) member of Parliament (MP) Renaldo Gouws following racist remarks 16 years later.
“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,” the Commission said in a statement.
“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.”
#Gouws
— SAHRCommission (@SAHRCommission) June 20, 2024
The South African Human Rights Commission will today 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.
The Commission said it comes after it was tagged by aggrieved citizens on social media seeking that it intervene in this matter. Citizens have also called the DA to remove him from Parliament.
In a recent exposè by IOL, on footage, Gouws can be heard saying: “Alright so there’s a couple of things I want to say. Kill the f**ing k*ffirs, kill all the f*ing n*ggers. That’s all I gotta f*ing say. Kill all the k*ffirs! Kill all the f*ing n*ggers!”
This explicit content, was initially published on his YouTube channel in March 2010 and was then archived despite being deleted and has resurfaced, revealing behaviour that is incompatible with the principles of dignity and equality enshrined in South African law.
“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),” the SAHRC said.
“The Commission is empowered in terms of section 13(3)(b) of the South African Human Rights Commission Act 40 of 2013 (SAHRC Act), to bring proceedings in a competent court or tribunal in its name or on behalf of a person or a group or class of persons,” the commission said.
“Gouw’s position as a Member of Parliament, his alleged actions carry even greater weight and responsibility, as he is expected to uphold and embody the principles enshrined in the Constitution, including human dignity, equality, and non-discrimination.”
He was sworn in as an MP last week in Cape Town during the first sitting of parliament.
The DA has suspended Gouws after establishing that the video, in which Gouws utters racist slurs is genuine and not as fake as they initially suspected.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
IOL Politics