Photo: Lynn Williams
The alleged hate speech case against former Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentarian Renaldo Gouws will be heard in the Equality Court in Gqeberha next year.
Gouws and representatives of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) were in court when the matter was postponed on Thursday.
The SAHRC took Gouws to court for his alleged hate speech and racist utterances.
Gouws was suspended in June after a 2010 video of him allegedly making racial comments using the K-word surfaced on social media just days after he was sworn in as a DA MP.
In September, the DA terminated Gouws' membership from the party.
The SAHRC seeks an order that confirms that the posts Gouws made constitute hate speech and harassment based on race.
They further want Gouws to pen an apology letter to all South Africans, pay an amount of R100,000 to an organisation working towards social cohesion, do 20 hours of community service at a centre assisting and promoting social cohesion, and participate in diversity and inclusivity workshops.
In his answering affidavit, Gouws denies making any online media posts that amount to hate speech and harassment as per Sections 10 and 11 read with section 1(1) of the Equality Act.
He said the video referred to was only a snippet of the video and not the full video.
"I never published the snippet only and the snippet on its own conveys a completely wrong impression of what I intended to convey in the video.
Gouws annexed a full transcript of the audio part of the video as evidence to his court papers.
According to Gouws, his utterances were not meant to be hurtful or harmful, incite harm, or promote and propagate hatred.
"In fact, I specifically state, in the video, that I did not mean anything that I had said, but that I wanted to evoke a response," Gouws stated in his answering affidavit.
Gouws added that the allegation that he called for the killing of Black people in the video is patently false.
Professor Tshepo Madlingozi, SAHRC Commissioner in charge of Equality said they were satisfied with the way proceedings went on Thursday.
He said they were happy that the matter would be heard as one, after the respondent sought to split the case, based on a technical issue.
The technical issue in question was the fact that 14 years had lapsed since the video was issued.
Madlingozi said South Africans should be reminded that even though 14 years had lapsed, the harm was ongoing.
"In 2024 this video has caused collective trauma to South Africans and others living in the country.
"The respondent made no apology, therefore the issue of prescription and timing has not come up."
He emphasized that according to law, the use of the K-word is proscribed.
"There is nowhere that it can be used with the explanation that it's artistic expression and it can never be used as hyperbole."
"30 years into democracy, it is time that we learn to live with one another," said Madlingozi.
