A group of Renaldo Gouws supporters have pledged nearly R50 000 on Backabuddy towards his legal bills after the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) vowed to take him to the Equality Court for alleged hate speech and racial utterances.

The DA MP courted controversy after an old clip of himself saying the K-word resurfaced on social media. He has since been suspended from the political party and is also facing an internal disciplinary hearing.

RENALDO GOUWS FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN RAISES R50K

Last week, the SAHRC revealed that it would be taking action against Renaldo Gouws.

It said in a statement: “Following assessment of the content, the Commission has concluded that utterances allegedly made by Mr Gouws constitute hate speech and/or harassment as contemplated in terms of sections 10 and 11 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 2000 (PEPUDA or Equality Act).

A group of Gouws supporters has since launched a Backabuddy fundraising campaign. According to the creator, the money raised will go towards Gouws’s legal bills in his representation against the SAHRC.

According to campaign creator Matthew Dickason, the controversial clip of Renaldo Gouws saying the K-word was “taken out of context”.

He said: “He also clearly says in the video that he didn’t mean the words he just used but wanted to showcase the double standards and wanted to illustrate how someone else could be hurt by the words uttered.

SAHRC takes Renaldo Gouws to court for racist remarks. Image: X/@RenaldoGouws

“Now, 14 years later, his question has been answered, and the point of the video has been made. There seems to be a clear double standard when it comes to racism in South Africa.

“Please support Renaldo Gouws against the very same SAHRC that doesn’t see Julius Malema and Andile Mngxitama’s hate speech as such but yet see Renaldo’s hyperbole as hate speech.”

The fundraising campaign – which has been recently halted for donations – has raised nearly R50 000 of its R100 000 goal.

BACKABUDDY ‘DOES NOT ENDORSE CAMPAIGN’

Meanwhile, Backabuddy released a statement claiming that it does not endorse the fundraising campaign for Renaldo Gouws.

This comes amid an IOL report, which many critics have claimed is biased.

“We would like to clarify that Backabuddy does not endorse any campaigns. Our platform serves solely as a neutral facilitator, operating strictly within our published terms and conditions.”

Backabuddy also stated that it removed the campaign as it “did not meet the conditions of our T&Cs.”