'I will not apologise,' says Gayton McKenzie over racism and hate speech allegations

Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie has denied allegations of racism and hate speech, insisting he will not apologise because he believes he has done nothing wrong.

Speaking during a live broadcast on Monday evening, McKenzie confirmed receiving a letter from Lawyers for Human Rights but criticised that it was shared with the media before reaching him directly.

"I'm very happy that this opportunity is coming up where I can defend myself. I'm going to come out of here as a person who hates racism. I'm going to take this up to the Constitutional Court so that everything they said, I said, we can prove," McKenzie said.

McKenzie has until Wednesday to respond to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) regarding offensive posts on his X (formerly Twitter) account, including the use of the K-word. The commission launched an investigation into alleged xenophobic remarks and resurfaced posts dating back to 2011.

The controversy intensified after a live video in which McKenzie used a racial slur discussing actions taken by his party, the Patriotic Alliance, against the hosts of the “Open Chats Podcast,” who had previously made disparaging remarks about the Coloured community. Several old tweets containing apartheid-era racial slurs and racially charged language also resurfaced.

He stated he will not apologise. “Not because I'm arrogant. Because I'm not a racist. I've not said racist things. Just know that I'm not going to apologise because I didn't say racist things.”

McKenzie accused some media and political figures of misrepresenting his words, saying he was fighting racism.

“Some of those tweets, they said, I said this. I was fighting racism. Like the one guy was saying, racism. I said, b****t**. I said people should go for life in jail for racism. Sorry. I will defend hate speech. I didn't have any hate speech.”

He criticised ActionSA for hypocrisy, recalling a 2016 meeting discussing the removal of Athol Trollip. “Julius Malema said, ‘We’re going to cut the throat of whiteness.’ I disagreed. I said that sounded like we were against white people, and I don’t support that. I don’t support racism in any form.”

As evidence of his stance, McKenzie highlighted past support for a political party, Black First Land First (BLF), that has now been deregistered. “When they came to me without money to register, I helped them. I even bought them t-shirts. Andile Mngxitama has stood up and said I’m not racist. That speaks for itself.”

Rejecting advice to lay low politically, McKenzie said accusations are part of a broader effort to discredit him. “It's very obvious people are intimidated by me. This is an operation. How do you go back 15 years? That makes me happy. They can't find anything in my present. They have to go to the past.”

He denied threatening President Cyril Ramaphosa, to whom he pledged loyalty. “The president has given me an opportunity of a lifetime to serve the people of South Africa. How do I threaten him? I will never do that.”

Even if removed from his ministerial post, McKenzie said he would continue to support Ramaphosa. “I've come to respect President Ramaphosa. I've seen what he has to deal with. I have a front row seat.”

Addressing claims of xenophobia, McKenzie said, “Now they're putting in xenophobia. It went from racism. It's no longer that. Because they know. We've got our facts.”

He challenged critics to present clear proof of racism, noting, “Nobody can tell me exactly to say this is racism right here that you have done. Because there's a context for everything.”

Despite multiple offers of legal help, McKenzie said he and his team will handle the matter themselves. “So many lawyers were calling me to help. I said no, it’s fine. Thank you. We’ll sort it.”

He reaffirmed his commitment to his work and told supporters, “They will not scare me. I think they say, I'm going to break it down for you in the equality court. And you'll see, at the end of the day, I will come out victorious.”

hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za

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