Following national elections held only a few weeks ago, and the forming of a National Government of Unity (GNU), the big piece of political news this week revolves around DA Member of Parliament Renaldo Gouws and a video from his days as a political commentator on YouTube.
More specifically racist remarks that Gouws made have come to light, and now threaten the future of the DA MP.
With social media reacting strongly to the video, claims of AI-aided editing, and some decrying freedom of speech, the latest happening is action between taken by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
To that end, “Following assessment of the content, the Commission has concluded that utterances allegedly made by Mr Gouws constitute hate speech and/or harassment as contemplated in terms of sections 10 and 11 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 2000 (PEPUDA or Equality Act),” the SAHRC noted in an official statement.
What the outcome will be for the DA MP remains to be seen, but his relatively short political career is now in serious jeopardy. Whatever the result of the SAHRC case is, this will all serve as a reminder that the content people place on the internet lives forever, and in some instances, can come back to bite you.
Outside of a DA MP potential ruing his past actions, other news in our SPEEDRUN roundup include an Old Mutual hackathon, new dates for SASSA grants, research on a decent living wage, and the rising cost of affording a car.
