The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has decided to take legal action against Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture Gayton McKenzie.
This is over a series of old tweets in which McKenzie allegedly used the derogatory ‘K-word’ to refer to black South Africans.
Speaking to Sunday World on Tuesday, commissioner Tshepo Madlingozi said the commission agreed that the tweets constitute a violation of the right to equality enshrined in the country’s Constitution.
Madlingozi said the Commission’s move follows numerous public complaints about the minister’s past social media activity.
Impediment to nation building
According to the Commission, the tweets reflect lingering racist sentiments that undermine South Africa’s ongoing nation-building efforts.
“As a Commission, we are deeply concerned about complaints of racism,” said Madlingozi.
“The fight for liberation and freedom was fundamentally about securing equality, a principle apartheid sought to destroy. These tweets show we still have unfinished business in dismantling racist, xenophobic, and patriarchal attitudes in our communities,” he added.
He said after the complaints, the Commission sent an allegation letter to Minister McKenzie, requesting a formal apology, the removal of the offending tweets, and his participation in remedial processes.
However, the minister failed to respond within the stipulated deadline.
“We gave him an opportunity to address the issue, but the lack of response has forced us to escalate the matter,” Madlingozi stated.
Late response
The SAHRC has now resolved to pursue legal action against McKenzie, seeking a court order to compel him to apologise, delete the tweets, and commit to refrain from [using] such language in the future.
He further revealed that the minister’s office responded tardily, complaining about technical issues with their server as the reason for the delayed reply. While the SAHRC acknowledged receiving a belated response from McKenzie’s office, it insists on its decision to proceed with the lawsuit.
“We will review the minister’s letter, but our resolution to take this matter to court stands.”
