Cape Town – The GOOD Party has reacted angrily to the settlement reached between YouTube provocateur and expelled Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Renaldo Gouws and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
In an X post, Gouws confirmed the settlement, stating: “They will withdraw the hate speech case against me before the Equality Court. One of the requirements is to make an apology video.”
The case relates to a widely circulated video in which Gouws can be heard uttering the words “kill all the k****rs”.
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However, Roscoe Palm, councillor for the GOOD party, who broke the disgraceful story when he was a practicing journalist, said: “Gouws’ so-called apology is lacklustre at best, it reads as a curriculum vitae of the work he has done and attempts to downplay, rather than atone for, his actions.
“GOOD believes this is a half-hearted and insincere apology. This may be good enough for the SAHRC, but it will fall short of the mark for South Africans.
“The SAHRC must explain what public interest was served by reaching a settlement.”
Palm said the settlement and withdrawal of the hate speech case sets a precedent where someone can behave with impunity and then drag the SAHRC to the settlement table.
“Gouws could have apologised at any time,” said Palm.
“That he chooses to do so as part of a settlement agreement is most telling.
“He had armed himself with crowdfunded legal assistance and was able to fight the case from a position of privilege.”
Palm added: “This incident plays out against the backdrop of growing right-wing groups in South Africa, fuelled by misinformation and denialism undermining our sovereignty.
“In this context, Gouws’ apology, offered not out of remorse, but as a legal obligation, rings hollow.”
Palm said a conviction of the expelled DA MP in the Equality Court would have sent a clear message that racism will not be tolerated in South Africa.
“It would also have narrowed the political ambitions of a man who has repeatedly courted controversy and division,” Palm said.
“Now that Gouws has ticked the box of a perfunctory apology, it remains to be seen where he will position himself politically next.”
