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Minister Gayton McKenzie.
Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie has apologised to the SABC after he accused the corporation of being involved in an independent podcast, The Open Chat Podcast.
Presenters on the podcast made derogatory remarks about the Coloured community in South Africa, and McKenzie assumed that the SABC aired the podcast on its platforms, subsequently threatening the corporation with legal action.
After consultations with the public broadcaster, McKenzie issued this apology.
“I have made contact with the SABC CEO. Rightfully so that we are wrong mentioning SABC in our podcast that they have nothing to do with that. We don’t work with them. They are not on the SABC platform. So let me apologise to the SABC for the mistake that they’re part of. I have also spoken to Multi-Choice. There should be no place to hide for racists. If you are white racist, black racist, coloured racist, a racist remains a racist. In SA, there should be no place for racism.”
Hate speech
The PA says charges against the Open Chats Podcast will be withdrawn this evening and refiled at a Johannesburg police station, excluding any reference to the SABC.
PA lawyer Eugine Botha says, “The first charge is that the statement made on the podcast constitutes hate speech in terms of section 41 of the Prevention of Combating of Hate Crime and Hate Speech Act 2023. And then that also amounts to crimen injuria and a common law offence that tarnishes the dignity of others. The derogatory comments made against the Coloured South Africans constitute and violate their social standing in a democratic South Africa.”
