South African party Democratic Alliance (DA) has suspended an MP after a series of old clips resurfaced online of him spewing violent racist language against black people.
Renaldo Gouws initially insinuated one of the videos was doctored and denied it but a statement issued by the DA on Thursday said it was “genuine and not a fake”.
In the video Mr Gouws, who was sworn into parliament less than a week ago, uses a local slur typically reserved for Black Africans repeatedly along with the n-word, and calls for black people to be killed.
The DA which now forms part of the government of national unity said Mr Gouws would face “disciplinary charges”.
It follows a series of clips, which came out earlier in the week, where Mr Gouws makes racially charged remarks.
In one video he implied that white people were subjected to reverse apartheid.
He said: “If Africa had to disappear off the face of the earth, no one would [expletive] notice”.
More than 40,000 people signed an online petition calling for his removal as an MP.
On Monday, the 41-year-old claimed he wasn’t racist after the first clips came out, and apologised on X, saying he had spoken in a “crass” and “hostile” way.
“I refute any claims of racism or being a racist. I can however see how my message was distorted in the way it was delivered by me and I take full responsibility for the actions of my younger and immature self,” he said.
John Steenhuisen, the leader of the DA, previously defended Mr Gouws, but it is unclear if he has seen the latest video where Mr Gouws calls for black people to be killed.
But the video was made available to DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille, on Wednesday, who told local media: “Such language is unjustifiable and unacceptable. I don’t see how such offensive language can be justified.”
