The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Renaldo Gouws has been suspended with immediate effect while facing disciplinary charges before the Party’s Federal Legal Commission.
His suspension follows after the resurfacing of old videos showing him making derogatory remarks.
Gouws, who is the former Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Ward 2 councillor, was sworn in as a member of parliament on June 14.
DA’s director of communications, Richard Newton said, “The DA has established that the video, in which Renaldo Gouws uses execrable language, is genuine and not a fake as initially suspected.”
Gouws can be heard and seen in a video that resurfaced on social media recently, claiming that white South Africans are living in a “reverse Apartheid.”
“Today, white people are beaten, white people are killed, white people are discriminated against,” Gouws said in the video.
He continued to assert that white people face discrimination in South Africa, adding, “Call me a fu**ing racist if you want.”
Shortly after, a petition was started on June 16, calling for Gouws to be removed from parliament.
In a second 15-second video that resurfaced, Gouws was seen and heard making racist and violent remarks.
In response to the videos, Gouws made a public apology on X, denying that he was racist and stating that the videos were made when he was “young and still a student.”
He explained that he was reacting to comments made by “former President Zuma and then Youth Leader, Malema, who were singing songs about killing people based on their race.”
“I refute any claims of racism or being a racist. However, I can see how my message was distorted by the way it was delivered, and I take full responsibility for the actions of my younger, immature self,” Gouws concluded.
