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Brash, outspoken and never far from controversy, South Africa’s Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie has built his reputation on calling out racism. Now he faces the same accusation himself — a charge he rejects.
The row stems from resurfaced social media posts in which McKenzie, more than a decade ago, repeatedly used the apartheid-era “K-word” — one of the most offensive racial slurs directed at black people. The posts have sparked outrage and prompted the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to demand that he delete them, issue a public apology, and respond formally by Wednesday.
McKenzie, a former gangster turned politician, leads the Patriotic Alliance (PA), a party that has gained traction among South Africa’s “coloured” community — people of mixed heritage who make up about 8% of the population. Many in this community feel sidelined in post-apartheid South Africa: “not white enough” under apartheid, and “not black enough” in the democratic era. McKenzie has cast himself as their unapologetic defender, helping the PA win seats in parliament last year.
President Cyril Ramaphosa brought the PA into his fragile coalition government after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority, seeing McKenzie as useful in countering the Democratic Alliance (DA) and appealing to the coloured vote.
The controversy began last month after McKenzie criticised a popular podcast for derogatory comments about coloured people. But critics soon unearthed his own past comments, igniting a storm. While McKenzie has expressed regret, he has also defended himself, saying in a Facebook live video: “I always saw myself as black growing up… I’m black and coloured, I’m mixed.”
He describes himself as a “black-skinned coloured” with a black Sotho mother and a father of Irish and Japanese heritage, arguing that his language reflected how he saw himself included within the black community. He has also pointed to his role in the anti-apartheid struggle as evidence of his solidarity.
Yet many South Africans see his old remarks as inexcusable. The “K-word” was a brutal slur used to humiliate and dehumanise black people during apartheid, and its use still stirs deep pain. Diversity consultant Terry Oakley-Smith noted: “What’s unusual about this case is that it’s a so-called coloured person using that sort of language.”
The controversy has laid bare South Africa’s unresolved racial divisions. Experts say the persistence of apartheid-era geography, inequality and mistrust continues to fuel resentment. “We just don’t know each other at all… when people call us the rainbow nation, it’s just nonsense,” Oakley-Smith added.
For McKenzie, the fallout is especially awkward. His ministerial portfolio is supposed to promote unity through sport, culture and the arts. Instead, his words have reignited racial wounds and raised questions about whether Ramaphosa will keep him in cabinet.
The SAHRC will decide its next steps, but the case has already intensified a national conversation: nearly three decades after apartheid, South Africa is still grappling with race, identity and belonging.
