After his ousting, Renaldo Gouws questions the transparency of the DA's disciplinary process following his termination, raising serious concerns about fairness, accountability and the lack of an appeal process. File Picture: Henk Kruger / Independent Newspapers
Image: IOL
Axed Democratic Alliance (DA) Member of Parliament (MP) Renaldo Gouws has raised concerns about the transparency of the party's disciplinary process following his termination.
This expulsion comes after a thorough investigation conducted by the DA’s Federal Legal Commission (FLC) into the allegations of racism against Gouws. The FLC found Gouws guilty of contravening several sections of the DA’s constitution.
Gouws shared a now deleted video on social media making racist remarks where he is 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.”
IOL reported that Gouws maintains there is a campaign against him and that the media, and IOL in particular, was responsible for him losing his job and being booted from the party.
Gouws took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticise the DA’s disciplinary process.
According to Gouws, he underwent a three-month investigation by the Federal Legal Commission (FLC) regarding two charges against him.
The process involved extensive questioning and culminated in a three-hour in-person meeting in Cape Town, he said.
The charges included:
– Recording and uploading discriminatory remarks –where Gouws was found not guilty of this charge.
– Failing to disclose the existence of a video – He was found guilty of this charge, despite having declared his YouTube channel and its content.
After the FLC’s investigation, Gouws noted that he was informed that the panel recommended he remain a member of the DA, with the condition of closing his YouTube channel and abstaining from social media.
However, this recommendation was overruled by the Federal Executive (Fedex), which opted for a harsher sanction — termination of Gouws’ membership and, consequently, his parliamentary seat.
Gouws expressed frustration over the process: “Why did we waste three months asking actual lawyers to engage with me only for the Fedex, who didn’t participate in any meetings, to reject their findings? How is this an open and transparent process?”
Gouws also highlighted a significant limitation in the DA's internal procedures. He noted that its constitution states FLC decisions cannot be appealed, leaving him without recourse.
“It’s shocking that I can’t appeal this outcome,” he said.
Gouws plans to release a 40-minute video detailing the entire ordeal on his YouTube channel, aiming to shed light on what he perceives as a lack of fairness within the party's disciplinary framework.
He suggested that the DA could saved resources by pre-emptively informing the FLC of predetermined outcomes in cases, thus avoiding prolonged investigations.
“I suggest the DA should just save the FLC some time ... and come up with a predetermined outcome rather than wasting resources on a process that seems to have been predetermined,” he said.
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