Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has found himself at the centre of a political storm after strongly condemning derogatory remarks made about coloured people on the Open Chats podcast.
The podcast hosts had claimed that coloured people practice incest and are mentally deranged — comments that sparked public outrage.
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While the show has since issued two apologies, McKenzie’s party, the Patriotic Alliance (PA), opened a case of crimen injuria, with the matter now under investigation by the South African Human Rights Commission.
In his response, McKenzie stated, “Coloureds and blacks are one people being treated differently mistakenly.”
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Critics Dig Up McKenzie’s Past Words
McKenzie accused some South Africans of being “more offended by our outrage as coloured people against the vile racism that was directed at us” than by the remarks themselves. “You are encouraging future racists instead of nipping this in the bud. We are not you,” he said.
However, his critics were quick to highlight previous social media posts allegedly containing racial slurs, including the K-word.
McKenzie brushed off the backlash, saying, “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.” Screenshots of old posts were widely shared, prompting calls for his resignation.
Calls for Presidential Action Grow
Former African Transformation Movement (ATM) president and MP Vuyolwethu Zungula directly appealed to President Cyril Ramaphosa to take action against McKenzie.
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“Mr President, you appointed a minister who has publicly uttered deeply offensive and despicable words against black people. Is this really the vision of unity and inclusivity that the GNU stands for? We demand action now!”
President Ramaphosa is yet to issue a public response to the call.
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