DA defends return of disgraced MP Renaldo Gouws

Renaldo Gouws, the suspended DA member of Parliament, has been appointed deputy spokesperson for two portfolios – Tourism and the auditor-general – while investigations continue into racist remarks he made years ago.

This was revealed in a list of portfolio spokespersons that the DA released on Monday.

Last month, the DA suspended Gouws from party activities after establishing that an exposé by IOL in which he uttered racist comments was legitimate and not AI or fake as they initially suspected.

In the video, Gouws can be heard saying: “Alright so there’s a couple of things I want to say. Kill the f**ing k*****s, kill all the f***ing n*ggers. That’s all I gotta f***ing say.”

But the DA came to his defence, saying his suspension won’t stop him from fulfilling his duties as an MP.

The party’s chief whip in Parliament, George Michalakis, said the party had the power to suspend members from party political duties, which they had done in Gouws’s case and this was still in place.

However, he is still a member of Parliament subject to the disciplinary hearing and has to fulfil his duties in that case, Michalakis said.

He said it was significant to understand the split between the party and the State.

“There is a split between party and State. This is in line with all cases in the past where members have been suspended from party political duties.

“Renaldo continues to be suspended from party political duties and will not fulfil his designated role of deputy spokesperson, subject to the outcome of the disciplinary.

“We are a party that believes in the rule of law, and once there is an outcome in the hearing, we will be able to either remove him or allow him to fulfil his party duties, depending on the outcome,” Michalakis said.

Responding to IOL on Wednesday, parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said Gouws’s suspension was from the DA and not the House, “so the DA would explain it better”.

“Those are party processes and the DA should deal with them,” he explained. Gouws has since apologised for his set of videos, which had been made public, and said that he was young and immature at the time, but dismissed claims that he was a racist.

Cape Times