'I reject any claims of racism': DA MP Renaldo Gouws on resurfaced video

DA MP Renaldo Gouws has apologised for a resurfaced controversial video he posted 15 years ago as more people sign a petition to have him ousted from parliament.

The former Nelson Mandela Bay councillor has been in the spotlight after he became an MP with some people on social media posting a video he made in 2009 talking about “reverse apartheid”. TimesLIVE previously reported Gouws, in the video, implied while white people are painted as the enemy, “if Africa had to disappear off the face of the earth, no-one would f***** notice”.

The petition on Change.org, started by Kimberly Jones, labelled him as a racist and called for his removal as MP. The petition was signed by more than 40,000 people on Tuesday morning.

“A snippet of a video I posted 16 years ago [in 2009] when I was young and still a student has been recycled and posted on social media over the past few days. I addressed this snippet in 2016 and again in 2020 when approached by media. [The video was initially posted] at the time when then president Jacob Zuma and then [ANC] youth leader Julius Malema were singing songs [Dubul' ibhunu] about killing people based on their race,” Gouws said.

While he said he regretted the tone he used then, Gouws dismissed claims he was racist.

“I posted a lengthy Facebook post from 2013 in which I apologised for how I delivered my message in my videos (angry, hostile, confrontational and crass).

“I reject 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. For that I apologise unreservedly,” Gouws said.

Gouws is no stranger to controversy. His YouTube videos speaking about racial matters and South African challenges usually go viral, with many people challenging his perspective. 

TimesLIVE