It has just been confirmed that political organisation Action SA has reported minister Gayton McKenzie to the South African Human Rights Commission for alleged racist remarks.
According to the statement, McKenzie is said to have “repeatedly used hateful slurs from the Apartheid era, along with other offensive references that served to degrade and dehumanise black South Africans”.
“Earlier this week, ActionSA joined South Africans in condemning vile and repugnant remarks directed toward the coloured community,” a statement read. “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.”
Gayton McKenzie caught in racism storm
On social media, some users referenced posts allegedly made by McKenzie back in 2013.
On Friday, he took to social media to state: “This whole campaign to find something racist I ever said is hilarious because you have now gone 13 years back and can’t bring out one racist thing I ever said. I always and still fight that Coloureds and Blacks are one people being treated differently mistakenly.
“You are more offended by our outrage as Coloured ppl against the vile racism that was directed at us, you find excuses for these young people who hurt a whole race. You are encouraging future racist instead of nipping this in the bud. We are not you.”
This comes in the same week that McKenzie revealed plans to sue podcasters who made disparaging comments about the coloured community in an episode posted on their social media.
What are your thoughts on this story?
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211.
Subscribe to The South African website’s newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
