By Junior Lebese
South Africans should not only be worried about the racism by DA MP Renaldo Gouws, but also the DA’s initial reaction to it, and the ANC’s continued silence.
The ANC voter is the biggest loser in this past general election. ANC voters queued for hours, waiting to vote against the DA and racists, only to have the vote used to form a coalition with the same racists we were fighting against. Having our votes traded like casino chips to give power to our political arch-rivals is the worst unimaginable pain and feeling to ever endure.
The recent exposure of the DA’s entrenched rabid racists reveals the true nature of the party the ANC went into a coalition with. Forget the fancy phraseology such as the government of national unity (GNU); there is no such thing. It is a grand coalition, branded as the GNU to pacify the supporters of both the DA and the ANC.
The ANC is in bed with racists, and the past week exposed that. Before the ink had dried on the euphoria of the public relations project of selling the GNU as the best thing since 1994, the arrogant racists struck again.
Videos of racist DA MP Renaldo Gouws appeared online, sparking public outrage. Instead of condemning the act, the DA reverted to its default setting of defending the racist. The DA's director of communications, Richard Newton, said Gouws was not a member of the DA at the time he made the video and therefore the party couldn't take any steps against him for it.
The DA was very happy to let the racist rants “slide.” The DA was willing to ignore the racism because, according to Newton, Gouws “joined the DA three years after that video, so he did not break any party rules because he wasn't a member.” That is the real DA. Racism runs in the party’s DNA.
On 18th June, Timeslive reported with the headline “'I reject any claims of racism': DA MP Renaldo Gouws…”, showing the defiant and arrogant attitude of Gouws in the face of the scathing racist video. What was presented as an “apology” was nothing but a rationalisation of the racist rants, with Gouws blaming now-EFF leader Julius Malema and MKP leader Jacob Zuma for his “rants.”
The country was almost successfully told to move on from the “non-issue.” However, Independent Online (IOL) published another racist video of Gouws where he was shouting on camera: “Kill the f*ing k*ffirs, kill all the fing n*ggers. That’s all I gotta fing say. Kill all the k*ffirs! Kill all the f*ing n*ggers!”
It was only after this video was published that the DA ran out of defence tactics and acted, “suspending” Gouws while the internal “investigation and disciplinary hearing is ongoing.” The unrepentant hardcore and rabid racist would have gotten away with murder were it not for the IOL's explosive video.
The videos revealed that Gouws does not only have a penchant for racism, but he also has a fetish for recording it. That is how deeply racism runs in his veins. Another white DA racist who painted himself in a blackface was also exposed after Gouws.
What’s more worrying is that the DA’s initial reaction was to defend Gouws, while the ANC continues to ignore it. The EFF is the only political party that first called for the removal of the racist DA MP over his racist and homophobic remarks. Other political party leaders either remained silent or mumbled on the sidelines, while PA leader Gayton Mackenzie went from defending Gouws to only undefending him a few hours later when the IOL video surfaced.
The reaction of the ANCYL a day after the second video caused public outrage looked like an afterthought and a box-ticking exercise.
The ANC’s brand and identity have always been defined by its struggle, especially its fight against apartheid, which was rooted in racism.
Even at the Rivonia Trial, Nelson Mandela chose, instead of testifying, to make the famous speech where he said: “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
The silence of the ANC when the racist incidents involving DA MPs were exposed will remain telling for years. Like it’s GNU partner, the DA, the party now looks like it condones and embraces racism. Why did this administration remain silent and not issue a statement condemning the rabid racism exposed among DA members?
Ordinarily, the ANC, as the “leader of society,” would have been the first to come out and condemn racism or racist remarks, because that is what defined its sole reason for existence. Irrespective of how “strategic” they think the silence may have been, silence by itself is a form of communication.
In the current political milieu, the ANC’s silence can only be interpreted as that of a party that has abandoned its struggle credentials and the fight against racism. Coincidentally, the silence happens at the time when the ANC is going into a GNU coalition with the DA and cutting a deal with the FF+ to recognise the Afrikaner racist enclave of Orania.
OR Tambo, Albert Luthuli, Nelson Mandela, Langalibalele Dube, Walter Sisulu, and many of our liberation heroes would be spinning in their graves if they saw this.
* Junior Lebese is a pseudonym of a long-serving member of the ANC in good standing, and a social commentator. He writes in his personal capacity.
Sunday Independent