Gayton McKenzie takes legal action over Open Chats podcast accused of race-baiting Coloured community

Patriotic Alliance leader, Gayton McKenzie, has called on his party's legal team to draft a plan of action against a group of podcasters who made disparaging comments against the Coloured community.

In a clip of the conversation which has gone viral, the Open Chats Podcast hosts make a number of racist comments at the community, claiming that not only do Coloured families have sexual relationships with each other, but they also suffer mental issues. 

Reacting to the clip, McKenzie names members of the legal team who have been tasked with dealing with the matter. 

"I want a report today of how we are going to deal with those people who said Coloureds are crazy. I want us to use everything at our disposal. Tonight, at 7pm, I will tell our people what action we are going to take. It's racism. We must never allow people to become that comfortable," he said.

McKenzie added that if Coloured people made those remarks about any other race groups, it would be front page news.

The Open Chats Podcast has issued a public apology via its social media pages, regretting the incident. 

"The intention was never to cause harm or disrespect the Coloured community. Open Chats is a platform centred around open conversations which does at times touch on on sensitive topics, and with that said we do understand that as a platform we should conduct our conversations in a respectful manner.

The podcast hosts further stated that they do not promote or support racism or discrimination. 

The clip has been removed from the episode. 

Civil society organisation Cape Forum has condemned the vile and degrading comments.

Cape Forum’s Executive Chairperson, Heindrich Wyngaard, said they will request the South African Human Rights Commission to urgently investigate the matter.

“This type of rhetoric fuels and perpetuates damaging stereotypes that continue to marginalise Coloured communities,” he said.

seanne.rall@iol.co.za

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