COSATU welcomes the expulsion from Parliament of the notorious hate speech peddler, Renaldo Gouws

14 September 2024

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes the overdue expulsion from Parliament and the Democratic Alliance (DA), of the notorious hate speech peddler, Renaldo Gouws.  Cheerleaders for racial violence must have no space in Parliament in a democratic South Africa.  Ordinary citizens who still bear the deep emotional and lived economic scars of apartheid, should never be expected to tolerate such political charlatans as their public representatives, worse at the expense of ordinary workers’ hard-earned taxes.

We are pleased that the DA heeded the call of COSATU and ordinary South Africans to remove this aging juvenile from the Legislature.  This comes days after the DA’s Leader and Minister for Agriculture, Mr. John Steenhuisen, removed another poster boy for racial incitement, Roman Cabanac, as his Chief of Staff.

It is critical that political parties show sensitivity to society, in particular Black South Africans’ lived trauma, and the necessary humility to self-correct when they err. 

The Federation hopes the DA will show such sensitivity and humility towards the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act and grasp why millions of Black South Africans embrace the Act’s call for oversight by the Department of Basic Education with regards to school admission, dress code and language policies.  All too often, 30 years into democracy, the nation is forced to witness the humiliation of Black South Africans by a few medieval racists. 

We must collectively protect and nourish a non-racial, non-sexist South Africa envisaged by the African National Congress’ Freedom Charter and enshrined by our progressive Constitution.  This responsibility did not end as we cast our ballots in our first democratic elections on April 27, 1994, but is a daily journey, that all of us, in particular those privileged by the colour of their skin or their gender.

Equally when, the merchants of hatred spew their nonsense on social media and other public platforms, they must be rejected by society.  Government too must show the necessary fortitude and apply the Prevention and Combatting of Hate Speech and Crimes Act with the ruthless efficiency it demands.

Issued by Matthew Parks, Parliamentary Coordinator, COSATU, 16 September 2024