Parly will not probe Mckenzie's remarks

Parliament says comments made by sports minister Gayton McKenzie on X (formerly Twitter) between 2013 and 2017, in which he used the K-word multiple times, cannot be brought before its ethics committee because he was not an MP at the time.

Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said parliament received a letter from the African Transformation Movement (ATM) on Sunday, complaining about the tweets.

“However, the alleged tweets by minister McKenzie occurred prior to his becoming a member of parliament on 14 June 2024. In terms of Item 4(2)(a) of the code, read with Item 4(3)(f), conduct committed before a person becomes an MP does not fall within the scope of the code,” said Mothapo.

“Accordingly, no complaint has been opened by the registrar, and both parties were informed of this in writing earlier today. There is, therefore, no competent complaint before the ethics committee.”

The ATM filed a complaint against McKenzie, accusing him of making racist comments towards black South Africans and demanded an immediate investigation and his dismissal.

The complaint, which has been sent to the presidency, parliament, and the parliamentary joint committee on ethics and members’ interests, focused on tweets that the ATM said include “racially charged slurs” aimed at the black community.

Vuyo Zungula, ATM’s parliamentary leader, said the tweets “include racially derogatory language targeted at black South Africans, language that is both unacceptable and harmful to the foundational principles of our democracy”.

On Monday, McKenzie took to X where he denied being guilty of racism but apologised for being insensitive.

“I can never be guilty of racism, try some other takedown, but never racism. I did tweet some insensitive, stupid and hurtful things a decade or two ago. I was a troll and stupid. I cringe when seeing them, and I am truly sorry for that. I shall subject myself to the investigation,” he posted.

“Frame 1, I call out racism. Frame 2, I generally always included myself when speaking about black issues,” he wrote, sharing screenshots of previous posts.

In Frame 1 is a screenshot of a previous X post stating: “Bullshit “@shakier_W: when we coloureds say k****r, it’s the same as when we call other coloureds Bushys or indians K**i. Purely descriptive.” In Frame 2, he said: “I love Jews, Muslims an[d] Nigerians cos you f***s with them they f***s right back. We blacks are so use[d] to be[ing] insulted.”

Attempts by Sowetan to reach McKenzie and his office for further comment were unsuccessful yesterday.

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