South Africa’s Sports, Arts and Culture Minister, Gayton Mckenzie, has been reported to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for using a racial slur in resurfaced social media posts.
Gayton Mckenzie reported to SAHRC for ‘k-word’ meltdown
The term, widely known as the “k-word,” was used during Apartheid as a deeply offensive insult towards black South Africans.
According to ActionSA, the complaint relates to posts shared by Mckenzie more than a decade ago when he was still a businessman and leader of the Patriotic Alliance.
The party said the posts included derogatory language targeting black South Africans, despite Mckenzie’s recent public condemnation of racism in other contexts.
In a statement, ActionSA described the remarks as “hateful slurs from the Apartheid era” and “offensive references that served to degrade and dehumanise black South Africans.”
The party said it had also considered taking the matter to the Equality Court under Section 20 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, which allows legal action against unfair discrimination and hate speech.
The statement added:
“Racism and the dehumanising of any person, regardless of their race, has no place in South Africa.”
ActionSA also noted that it had previously condemned racially offensive comments directed towards the coloured community, and had recently lodged a separate complaint against Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson for referring to ActionSA supporters with derogatory terms.
McKenzie’s response to resurfaced posts
Mckenzie addressed the controversy on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that the posts had been taken out of context and that his record on fighting racism speaks for itself.
“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,” he wrote.
“I always and still fight that coloureds and blacks are one people being treated differently mistakenly.”
The Open Chats Podcast link
The renewed focus on Mckenzie’s past remarks follows his recent campaign against the Open Chats Podcast over its racially offensive comments about the coloured community.
During an episode that went viral, the show’s hosts, Mthokozisi Methula and Sinothando Kama, made comments implying incest and mental health problems within coloured families.
The remarks drew public criticism and legal action from the Patriotic Alliance, including a criminal complaint, a demand for removal of the episode from YouTube, and plans to approach the Equality Court.
Mckenzie condemned the podcast’s statements, saying:
“It has become too easy to insult coloured people in this country. Enough is enough.”
The podcast team later apologised, stating:
“The intention was never to cause harm… Open Chats is a platform centred around open conversations which at times touch on sensitive topics.”