Ex-DA MP Renaldo Gouws settles hate speech case, apologises for racist video

Former Democratic Alliance MP Renaldo Gouws has made a full and unconditional apology for a 15-year-old racist video he uploaded on YouTube, but later removed.

The video resurfaced when he was sworn in as a member of Parliament in 2024.

“To all South Africans and especially black South Africans, I am sorry. I am sorry for the pain, anger and trauma my words have caused. I am sorry for trying to justify, minimise and sanitise them. I know this apology does not erase what I said or did, but it is a step I must take to acknowledge the effect of my actions and begin to account for them,” said Gouws in the apology, broadcast on his YouTube channel on Thursday.

He expressed a commitment to “learning, listening and doing the difficult work of repair.”

“I apologise unreservedly to the people of South Africa both for the racial invective I expressed in the video itself and for taking so many years to take full responsibility for it,” he said.

“I despise racism in all its forms and have always been committed to building a true nonracial South Africa. My actions over the past 15 years have clearly demonstrated this. During the period when the video in question was made, I was actively involved in charitable work for people of all races.”

After the video resurfaced, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) approached the Equality Court seeking an order for Gouws to apologise, be fined R100,000, undergo diversity training and be given 20 hours’ community service.

Read more: Renaldo Gouws ‘hate speech’ row — SAHRC seeks apology, community service, R100,000 fine for ex-MP

In the video, Gouws is heard saying: “Alright, so there’s a couple of things I want to say. Kill the f***ing k****rs, kill all the f***ing n***ers. That’s all I gotta f***ing say. Kill all the k****rs! Kill all the f***ing n***ers!”

In papers filed before the Gqeberha Equality Court, Gouws said that it was “patently false” that he called for the killing of black people in the video.

He argued that this was only a snippet of the video and by itself conveyed the “completely wrong impression” of what he intended to say. The online news website IOL was sanctioned by the Press Council for not showing the full video.

“I had no intention to be hurtful or harmful to incite harm or propagate hatred,” Gouws said in his affidavit before the court.

“In fact, I specifically state in the video that I did not mean anything that I had said, but I wanted to evoke a response.”

In his apology, he confirmed that he had met with the SAHRC on 14 May to discuss a settlement.

He said they had agreed that he would issue an unconditional apology, and the case against him would be dropped.

“Fifteen years ago, on 11 March 2010, while I was a 27-year-old student and not yet a political figure, I recorded and published a video on YouTube where I intended to comment on the then ANC Youth League President Julius Malema singing the words: ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer.’

“I maintain that singing of those words is insensitive, divisive and deeply hurtful towards Afrikaners, especially those affected by violent crime in rural areas. However, I acknowledge that my critique itself was insensitive, divisive and deeply hurtful towards black people,” the apology began.

He said that although he followed up his racist rant with a caveat that he did not mean what he said, “It was unacceptable to use such violent language to make my point.”

Constitutional Court

Gouws continued by saying that he accepted that the Constitutional Court had ruled that the phrases were unutterable and racist.

“Further in the video,” he continued, “I described Julius Malema as an ‘ignorant, little f***ing black idiot’  and referred to those who sang along with him as ‘f***ing barbaric people’.

“In the same video, I claimed that some of the policies introduced in democratic South Africa constituted a ‘new apartheid’.”

He said he maintained his political view that affirmative action and Black Economic Empowerment were not being implemented fairly and constructively. But, he added that he acknowledged that this could not be equated to apartheid — a crime against humanity that stripped black people of meaningful opportunities and was enforced through murder, disappearances and arbitrary detention of political dissidents.

“The video in question had been viewed over 100,000 times by people from all over the world before I removed it from YouTube in 2013 and published a Facebook post,” he said.

The Facebook post Gouws refers to reads: “I will never apologise for feeling the way I did back then as there were various factors that brought out that rage in me. I will apologise though for not educating myself enough on certain topics before giving my opinion on them.

“It’s only now at the age of 30, that I get it. It took me some time to look at the other side of the coin and put myself in someone else’s shoes and completely understand the effects the history of our country has had on all of us.”

Gouws said he now understands that this was not an adequate apology for what he said in 2010.

“More significantly, I failed to acknowledge and apologise for the deep pain and humiliation that my words undoubtedly caused to black people both at home and abroad.”

He claimed that when an “edited version” of the video resurfaced after he became an MP, IOL treated him unfairly by withholding the full context of his words — a fact confirmed by the Press Council, which ordered IOL to apologise to him.

Gouws also maintains that he was treated unfairly by the DA. After the video resurfaced in 2024, the party terminated his membership.

Read more: Axed DA MP Renaldo Gouws to explore legal, ethical challenge to membership termination 

He said he had apologised again for the video in 2024, but that he now accepted that his previous apologies were limited and qualified.

“I use this opportunity to tender a full and unconditional apology,” he added.

Remarks retracted

He also withdrew previous public statements accusing the SAHRC of double standards and calling for its defunding.

“I retract these remarks. The SAHRC performs vital functions in our society, including combating racial hostility and hatred, and its officials do so with dedication and care.”

He condemned the actions of other social media users who vilified SAHRC officials.

Gouws said he hoped that this would be the end of the matter.

“I am happy with the settlement. I can now close this chapter in my life and focus on continuing doing the work I have been doing to make South Africa a better place for all.”

He said he would focus on growing his businesses and his podcast, adding that he was starting a new venture with the billionaire and private investor Rob Hersov.

Read more: World champs of white supremacy — why SA needs online disinformation laws, quick

He said he welcomed a chance to just “enjoy life”.

However, he said, he wasn’t done with IOL yet. “⁠I will offer them the opportunity to publicly apologise and admit that they manipulated the video and lied to their readers. If they don’t, then I will be taking them on legally.”

Gouws said in the hours after publishing his apology he had received “overwhelmingly positive” feedback.

“I think everyone is just happy that I can move on from this and start the next chapter of my life.”

Gouws’ attorney Willie Spies said Gouws “has committed himself to ongoing work to improve the relationship between people in South Africa. Our client has on various occasions in the past apologised for the way in which he, 15 years ago, expressed his opinion.”

He said the latest apology was agreed on by Gouws and the SAHRC and Gouws was committed to working for greater “mutual respect amongst all South Africans”.

The SAHRC confirmed the settlement. DM