‘I WILL NOT APOLOGISE’

MINISTER of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie insists he has nothing to apologise for in his race row and will fight the allegations all the way to the Constitutional Court.

The Patriotic Alliance leader has until today to respond to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) regarding offensive posts on his X (formerly Twitter) account, including the use of the K-word. 

The commission launched an investigation into alleged xenophobic remarks and resurfaced posts dating back to 2011.

Speaking during a live broadcast on Monday evening, McKenzie told his followers that had received a letter from Lawyers for Human Rights, but criticised that it was shared with the media before reaching him directly.

He said: "I'm very happy that this opportunity is coming up where I can defend myself. 

“I'm going to come out of here as a person who hates racism. I'm going to take this up to the Constitutional Court so that everything they said, I said, we can prove.” 

The controversy intensified after a live video in which McKenzie used a racial slur discussing actions taken by his party, the Patriotic Alliance, against the hosts of the “Open Chats Podcast,” who had previously made disparaging remarks about the Coloured community. Several old tweets containing apartheid-era racial slurs and racially charged language also resurfaced.

He stated he will not back down, explaining: “Not because I'm arrogant. Because I'm not a racist. I've not said racist things. 

“Just know that I'm not going to apologise because I didn't say racist things.”

McKenzie accused some media and political figures of misrepresenting his words, saying he was fighting racism.

He added: “Some of those tweets, they said, I said this. I was fighting racism. Like the one guy was saying, racism. I said, b****t**. 

“I said people should go for life in jail for racism. Sorry. I will defend hate speech. I didn't have any hate speech.”

Addressing claims of xenophobia in call for his department to employ South Africans ahead of foreigners, McKenzie said: “Now they're putting in xenophobia. It went from racism. It's no longer that. Because they know. We've got our facts.”

He challenged critics to present clear proof of racism, noting, “Nobody can tell me exactly to say this is racism right here that you have done. Because there's a context for everything.”

Despite multiple offers of legal help, McKenzie said he and his team will handle the matter themselves. “So many lawyers were calling me to help. I said no, it’s fine. Thank you. We’ll sort it.”

Even if removed from his ministerial post, McKenzie said he would continue to support President Cyril Ramaphosa. “I've come to respect President Ramaphosa. I've seen what he has to deal with. I have a front row seat.”