By Ziyah News Reporter
South Africa’s Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie, a politician known for his fiery rhetoric and fierce stance against racism, is now facing accusations of racism himself after old social media posts resurfaced in which he allegedly used an offensive slur referring to black people.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has ordered McKenzie to delete the posts and issue a public apology by Wednesday, warning of further action if he fails to comply.
McKenzie, leader of the Patriotic Alliance (PA), has built his political career as the unapologetic defender of South Africa’s coloured community people of mixed heritage who were historically classified under apartheid’s rigid racial categories.
Today they make up about 8% of the country’s population and often describe themselves as marginalised both under apartheid and in the democratic era.
“For the first time there is coloured people also going to parliament through the Patriotic Alliance,” McKenzie declared after last year’s elections, which gave his party seats in parliament for the first time.
His support base sees him as a lightning rod for their frustrations, while President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC brought him into a fragile coalition to help counter the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the contest for the coloured vote.
The row over McKenzie’s past comments erupted only weeks after he led a public campaign against derogatory remarks made about coloured people on the Open Chats podcast, hosted by a group of young black South Africans.
That episode, since edited, triggered police complaints and a referral to the SAHRC. At the height of his campaign, McKenzie insisted:
“There should be no place to hide for racists. [Whether] you are a white, black [or] coloured racist, a racist remains a racist.”
But his words have now come back to haunt him, with critics accusing him of hypocrisy and supporters arguing he is being targeted because of his rising political influence.
Though apartheid officially ended more than 30 years ago, its racial hierarchies continue to shape South Africa’s politics and economy. Many coloured South Africans say they still feel excluded—“not white enough then, not black enough now.”
McKenzie has positioned himself as their voice, but the latest controversy threatens both his credibility and his usefulness to the ANC within its fragile coalition.
For now, all eyes are on his response to the SAHRC deadline—an answer that could define whether the minister weathers yet another political storm, or whether his past finally catches up with him.