Politics

South Africa: Opposition DA party suspends MP over racist remarks from old videos

Published

5 months ago

June 22, 2024

A recently sworn-in member of the South African parliament was suspended by the opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), on Thursday after an old video of him advocating for the murder of Black people reappeared on social media.

A portion of a video with a young, white man named Renaldo Gouws making anti-Black comments was posted on social media on Wednesday. Gouws, 41, a former provincial council member for the Eastern Cape, was not available for comment.

He claimed in the video that he did not mean any of his offensive words about race and that he was providing background on Julius Malema, the then-youth leader of the African National Congress, singing a song from the apartheid era that advocated for the murder of white farmers.

A South African court found Malema guilty of uttering hate speech in 2011 for performing the song. Malema is currently the leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party.

One of the most unequal nations in the world, South Africa, where racial tensions have persisted three decades after the end of white minority rule, was rocked by the Gouws video.

According to the Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-largest party in the recently formed unity government in South Africa, it has shown beyond a reasonable doubt that the video in which Gouws used “execrable language” is real and authentic.

Gouws has been immediately suspended from all party activities, according to Helen Zille, chairperson of the federal council of the party.

“His case has been referred to the Federal Legal Commission and if he wants to state his defence, he will be able to do so there. But till then he is suspended from all party activities and we await the outcome of his disciplinary hearing,” she said.

The Human Rights Commission of South Africa announced that Gouws would be sued for allegedly using hate speech.

The lawmaker apologized for “the actions of my younger and immature self” in a statement he posted on X on Monday in response to the video, rejecting any accusations of racism.

Related Topics:Democratic Alliance Featured South Africa

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Politics

Mauritius’ Prime Minister to double as Finance Minister

Published

1 day ago

November 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In an effort to maintain a tight eye on the economy, Mauritius’ Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, who took office this month following a resounding election victory, said on Friday that he would retain the position of finance minister for himself.

“We are doing an audit of the economy to see to what extent the outgoing government has destroyed it,” Ramgoolam told reporters in the capital Port Louis after he presided over the swearing-in of other ministers.

Ten years after he stepped down as prime minister, the seasoned politician returned to the position when his Alliance du Changement (ADC) alliance won 60 of the 62 seats in the national legislature.

The 77-year-old Ramgoolam said earlier this week that he would be auditing governmental finances. Before this, he was prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2014.

Ramgoolam started a campaign in 2006 to streamline taxes and reduce bureaucracy to diversify the $10 billion economy beyond exports of sugar, textiles, and tourism.

Since then, the 1.3 million-person nation, which positions itself as a bridge between Africa and Asia, has developed into a major offshore financial hub and has been rated by the World Bank as the easiest location to do business in Africa regularly.

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

2 days ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.