DA MP Renaldo Gouws. Picture: Renaldo Gouws/X
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) says it will submit a formal complaint to the Speaker of the National Assembly regarding the conduct of Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Renaldo Gouws.
Gouws recently sparked controversy on social media after his past comments resurfaced, which have led to accusations of racism.
In a video, Gouws expressed concerns about violence against white people in South Africa, likening it to “reverse apartheid”.
In the video, Gouws says: “Wow, and people say it was bad back during apartheid, Jesus. You know, white people in this country are going through reverse apartheid. Say what the F you want. Back in the day, black people were beaten and killed, what has changed?
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“Today white people are beaten, killed and discriminated against. What’s the f**king difference? Do tell me. Call me a f**king racist if you want, but you come and live in this f**king country, and you, a white individual, come and live here and tell me that you aren’t discriminated against and that you aren’t f**king blamed for things that happened in the past, even though I had no f**king hand in it.”
In his defense, Gouws acknowledged the video’s crass delivery and emphasised that it dates back 16 years.
He, however, denied being racist, and called on South Africans not to tarnish his reputation with unfounded claims.
“A snippet of a video that I posted 16 years ago (back in 2009) when I was young and still a student has been recycled and posted on social media over the last few days,” said Gouws.
“I addressed this snippet in 2016 and again in 2020 when approached by the media when it was posted on social media. (Articles on this can be Googled). This was at the time when then President Zuma and then Youth leader, Malema were singing songs about killing people based on their race.”
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In 2022, the Equality Court ruled that the singing of “Kill the Boer – Kill the Farmer” is not hate speech.
Although Gouws said he had apologised before for the same video clip, he denied allegations of being racist.
“Before this, and before these snippets were used publicly against me, I posted a lengthy Facebook post from 2013 in which I apologised for how I delivered my message in my videos (angry, hostile, confrontational and crass).
“I refute any claims of racism or being a racist. I can, however, see how my message was distorted in the way it was delivered by me,” he said.
He apologised.
“I take full responsibility for the actions of my younger and immature self. For that, I apologise unreservedly.”
Gouws has since gone silent on social media.
Meanwhile, an online petition calling for his removal from parliament has gathered at least 40,000 signatures.
In a statement on Tuesday, the EFF said it would submit a formal complaint to the Speaker of the National Assembly to look into Gouws’ “ethical conduct”.
“He has been an advocate of right-wing politics in the country, equating attempts to redress colonial and apartheid legacy to reverse racism, projecting whites as victims of a so-called backlash by a black government,” said the EFF.
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“For him, colonialism and apartheid ended in 1994 and any attempts for redress is reverse racism.
“While the EFF supports the nationwide calls for Gouws to be removed as a Member of Parliament (MP), we are aware that his removal will not dent the DA’s quest to defend the gains of colonialism. A much bigger course is the removal of the DA from being a political player in this country.”
Meanwhile, Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie criticised calls for Gouws to be sacked from parliament.
McKenzie said the DA MP should be given a second chance, as he was also given a second chance.
“People change, people become better, most of us live with regret for the things we said or did. Some among us have been racist or said racist things maybe once many years ago. I don’t think we should destroy the future of people for something that happened so many years ago,” said McKenzie.
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“There is a huge difference between holding people accountable and cancelling people. Renaldo Gouws
should be held accountable but cancelling him is just plain wrong in my opinion. I believe in restorative justice because I am a recipient of it.”
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