The appointment of DA member Renaldo Gouws as deputy spokesperson for two portfolios – tourism and auditor-general – has been described as ‘apparent dissonance’ and ‘a spectacle to behold.’
Also read: DA suspends Renaldo Gouws after racist video surfaces
Last month, the DA suspended Gouws from party activities after determining that an IOL exposé in which he made racist remarks was legitimate and not AI or a hoax.
In the video, Gouws can be heard saying, ‘Alright, there is a couple of things I want to say. Kill the f***ing k*****s, kill all the f***ing n*****s. That’s all I gotta f***ing say.’
The DA initially came to his defence, claiming that his suspension would not prevent him from carrying out his duties as an MP.
His appointment occurred as the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) case against him was set to be heard in the Equality Court.
Professor Thuli Madonsela, the Stellenbosch University Law Trust Chair in Social Justice at the Faculty of Law, stated that the party ‘must explain this apparent dissonance.’
‘Uprooting racism and structural racial inequality is at the core of the South African transformative constitutionalism project that flows from our Constitution. For this reason, an allegation of racism is a serious matter.’
Typically, allegations of serious transgressions result in suspensions.
‘Furthermore, I know no case of a person being given additional responsibilities with the impact of elevating their status in an organisation while on suspension,’ she said.
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‘That said, we must accept that there is a lacuna regarding the do’s and dont’s of dealing with MPs that are under a cloud of suspected or alleged ethical violations.’
‘Parliament needs to address this possibly with the help of the Public Service Commission and the public protector… The failure of implementation of Chapter 5 of the Equality Act, 24 years later, is a major reason for this and related lacunas.’
‘It’s time for the people to put social accountability pressure on the government to implement Chapter 5 with deliberate speed,’ she said.
The SAHRC filed a complaint against Gouws with the Equality Court in Gqeberha.
SAHRC spokesperson Wisani Baloyi stated, ‘The matter is currently in court, and we are awaiting directions (on the) hearing date.’
Nkosikhulule Nyembezi, a policy analyst and human rights activist, expressed outrage that Gouws was still a member of Parliament.
‘By allowing him to stay in the Parliament while under investigation, possibly until after October, DA’s most senior figures are required once again to parrot nonsense in public, contradicting the words they had uttered no more than a season earlier, just to accommodate him (literally so).’
‘Defenders of the Parliament squatter in the DA say it is no different from the way other public representatives stayed in the post while the DA party – not the country – hand-picked a new replacement.’
‘The citizens have voted for change, not continuity, and they have rejected Gouws after these serious complaints because they decided that he lacked the basic integrity to do the job, that he could not be trusted with the task.’
‘Like a vaudeville hypnotist who can make his subjects launch custard pies into their own faces, Gouws’s ability to mesmerise his subordinates and superiors into idiocy – even now – is a spectacle to behold,’ said Nyembezi.
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Picture: Renaldo Gouws / Facebook