Think before you speak, Gayton

Like him or hate him, Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie has certainly hit the ground running in his new role.

Since being appointed in June, McKenzie has hit the right notes, whether stopping trips for superfans abroad at the taxpayers’ expense, donating his salary to struggling artists and lifting the lid on government’s payments to various artists who financially benefitted from his department in the past.

He also insists he’ll bring Formula One back to South Africa – with what money, we ask? – and expose corruption within his department.

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However, this week he found out you need to be careful when you open your mouth.

His remark: “We truly cannot have Nigerians compete in our Miss SA competition…” when commenting on the social media storm surrounding Miss SA contestant Chidimma Vanessa Adetshina’s eligibility, were tasteless and ignorant.

Adetshina was born in South Africa to a Nigerian father and a mother of Mozambican descent. McKenzie should rather engage his brain before he just blurts out the first thing that comes to him.

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Delivering the address on International Nelson Mandela Day this week, McKenzie admitted we had failed the icon: “My call is for each and every one to find the Nelson Mandela inside you.

“So many of us have moved away from the Madiba inside of us. Mandela would have been ashamed if he saw South Africa today.”

Mr Minister, we need more of these motivational messages.

ALSO READ: ‘Find the Mandela in you’: Minister McKenzie urges South Africans to embrace Mandela’s legacy