The SA Human Rights Commission (HRC) is targeting suspended DA MP Renaldo Gouws after an old video clip of him resurfaced in which he can be heard saying: ‘Kill all the kaffirs’.

In a statement, the commission said it was tagged by aggrieved citizens on social media who wanted it to intervene in the matter.

It planned to institute proceedings in the Equality Court in the Eastern Cape yesterday.

‘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,’ it said.

The HRC notes that it is empowered in terms of section 13(3)(b) of the SA Human Rights Commission Act 40 of 2013 (SAHRC Act), to bring proceedings in a competent court or tribunal in its own name or on behalf of a person or a group or class of persons.

'Given Mr 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.’ 

News24 reports that the DA yesterday confirmed that Gouws has been suspended, pending an internal investigation.

Spokesperson Richard Newton said the party has established that the video, in which Gouws uses ‘execrable language’ is genuine ‘and not a fake as initially suspected’.

In the clip, which was deleted, but archived in 2012, Gouws can be heard using the racial slurs.

Gouws made an apology on his social media pages for the video he posted in 2009 implying that white people were portrayed as the enemy and that ‘if Africa had to disappear off the face of the Earth, no one would fucking notice’. 

The party’s federal executive chair, Helen Zille said the unacceptable language is ‘directly opposed to the value system of the DA.

‘His case has been referred to the Federal Legal Commission and if he wants to state his defence he will be able to do so there,’ she said.

The DA’s chief whip, Siviwe Gwarube, told Daily Maverick that the party had noted the matter which has since been escalated to the party’s highest decision-making body led by Zille.

‘The difficulty here is that those videos were made when the person was not a member, but at the same time it is important that we retain the reputation of the organisation because we can’t have people who espouse those kinds of views in the party,’ Gwarube said.

Full News24 report

SAHRC report

Full Daily Maverick report