South Africa's sport, arts and culture minister, Gayton McKenzie, is under investigation by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for historical social media posts containing a racial slur. The posts, made between 2011 and 2017 on X, include the word “kaffir”, a highly offensive term for black people. The SAHRC has given McKenzie a deadline to apologise, undergo sensitivity training, donate to charity and delete the posts.
The investigation follows a podcast episode that made derogatory comments about Coloured people. McKenzie, who leads the Patriotic Alliance party, filed complaints about that episode, saying “there should be no place to hide for racists”. However, social media users then unearthed his own past posts using the slur.
McKenzie has denied being racist, stating on X: “I did tweet some insensitive, stupid and hurtful things a decade or two ago, I was a troll & stupid. I am truly sorry.” He has agreed to submit to the investigation. The SAHRC’s anti-racism commissioner, Tshepo Madlingozi, noted that the constitutional court has declared the word “unutterable” and that the continued presence of the posts causes ongoing harm.
The controversy underscores enduring racial tensions in South Africa, rooted in apartheid’s classification system. Coloured people, a mixed-race group, were given slightly better treatment than black Africans under apartheid, a divide that still impacts society. Experts say the incident reflects a lack of mutual understanding between communities.
