DA suspends Renaldo Gouws after outcry over racist rants

The DA has suspended MP Renaldo Gouws over his “racist rants” which surfaced on social media days after his swearing in.

The party says it has established the video, in which Gouws uses “execrable language”, is genuine and not fake as initially suspected.

Gouws has been removed from his duties with immediate effect while he faces disciplinary charges before the party's federal legal commission.

The former Nelson Mandela Bay councillor has been in the spotlight after he became an MP, with some people on social media posting a video he made in 2009 talking about “reverse apartheid”. This while decrying then president Jacob Zuma and then ANC youth leader Julius Malema singing songs (Dubul' ibhunu) about killing people based on their race.

In the latest instalment that surfaced overnight, the MP asked what would happen if a white person advocated the same. He is heard saying: “Alright, so there’s a couple of things I want to say. Kill the f**ing k**irs, kill all the f**ing n*ggers.”

TimesLIVE previously reported Gouws, in the video, implied while white people are painted as the enemy, “if Africa had to disappear off the face of the earth, no-one would f***** notice”.

DA leader John Steenhuisen previously defended Gouws by attributing his past comments to youthful indiscretion. 

Gouws said the video dated back to “when I was young and still a student”.

While he said he regretted the tone he used then, Gouws dismissed claims he was racist.

However, the party has since made the decision to recall him temporarily while it probes the charges against him in its internal disciplinary structures. 

Gouws is no stranger to controversy. His YouTube videos speaking about racial matters and South African challenges often go viral, with many people challenging his perspective. 

TimesLIVE