Parliament portfolio committee will not summon MacG to account for remarks about Minnie Dlamini

The parliament portfolio committee on women, youth and persons with disabilities has declined a request to summon podcaster MacGyver “MacG” Mukwevho to parliament for his controversial remarks about media personality Minnie Dlamini.

Recently in his podcast, Mukwevho made suggestions that the reason Dlamini's partners left her was due to the unpleasant scent of her private part.

This led to the women, youth and persons with disabilities deputy minister Mmapaseka Steve Letsike to request parliament to invite Mukwevho to appear before the committee and account for his utterances, and possibly be compelled to withdraw his statement. Letsike also called for the regulation of online podcasts. She said Mukwevho's comments were disparaging and undermined Dlamini's dignity.

“Mukwevho’s utterance constitutes online violence. I have issued a statement condemning these utterances as vile and disgusting, [and] which detailed interventions of holding him accountable for his unconstitutional statements,” Letsike said.

“We bring this matter to the portfolio committee noting the serious challenge of gender-based violence in the society. What is alarming is that Mukwevho has a known history [of] disparaging Dlamini and other women on this platform.”

After a lengthy debate, portfolio committee chair Liezl van der Merwe announced the committee had resolved to not summon Mukwevho.

“The majority of members are not in favour of us proceeding as [the] deputy minister requested,” she said. “We will not be calling MacG to the portfolio committee at this stage.”

Van der Merwe said Dlamini had not approached the committee nor opened a case with the police regarding the matter. She also highlighted that if the committee agreed to bring MacG to parliament, they would need to bring in every person affected by a similar issue.

“If we decide to continue with the mandate of hearing one case, it will mean the portfolio committee would have to extend to every other person. We cannot be selective in choosing one case.

“If we deem that to be our mandate then it’s something we have to consistently apply, meaning we would have to hear all other cyberbullying or gender violence cases that happen online, and I don’t think we have the capacity to do so.

 “We would like to align ourselves as the portfolio committee with the deputy minister in rejecting MacG’s comments as vile and it must be rejected with the contempt it deserves.” 

EFF MP Sihke Lonzi accused Letsike of prioritising this matter more than other issues affecting her department.

“That calls to question what makes this, if it is not grandstanding or populism or selective activism. Why must parliament be dragged to this particular case? If you were looking at cyberbullying as a whole, it could fall under the portfolio committee of digital communications.” 

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