GAYTON McKenzie has hit back at detractors labelling him “a racist” following jobs advertised in his department that excluded Black African applicants.
McKenzie who heads up the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC), came under fire at the weekend after his department issued a job ad giving preference to "Coloureds, Indians and Whites".
The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA) called for the Patriotic Alliance leader to be fired by President Cyril Ramaphosa and disciplined by Parliament.
Calling the posting "crudely racist", GIWUSA's Mametlwe Sebei, said it was a "flagrant act of systemic exclusion against African candidates and a blatant violation of the law.”
But McKenzie took to social media on Tuesday night to say that he cannot lead an unrepresentative department.
He wrote: “I can never lead a department that is so unrepresentative of society. I’m being accused of racism by people who really need to look in the mirror.”
He said out of the 586 staff in the DSAC, 531 were African (Black), 32 White, 19 Coloured and four Indian.
McKenzie has been having a running battle with mense attacking him for his frank and controversial statements.
With the vacancy issue running since last Friday, he wrote on Saturday: “Coloureds, Whites and Indians should also get job opportunities. You can't threaten me with Unions. I will not retreat or retract.”