Adam Catzavelos 'used k-word 4 months ago' after being attacked, brother says in radio interview
27 August 2018
Adam Catzavelos' brother Nic has said that Adam used the k-word in his presence four months ago.
In an interview with Eusebius McKaiser on Talk Radio 702 on Monday, Nic Catzavelos said his brother had been attacked while on a five day hike in the Drakensberg and returned furious, using the k-word and expressing a desire to leave South Africa.
[According to EWN's report Nic said: "Have I heard my brother use this kind of language before? Yes, the last time I heard my brother use this type of language and this is the truth... He went for a hike four months ago in the Drakensberg with two of his mates. It was a five-day hike and they were attacked on top of the mountain. He said to me that boulders the size of my head were thrown at his tent while he was sleeping. He came down from that hike and the first time I saw him he did use this language and he was furious and he said to me 'I've had enough of this country, I cannot live like this anymore. You cannot even go for a walk in the mountains'. And he used that word [the K-word] specifically." - PW]
Adam caused a massive uproar when a video of him using the k-word went viral last week. In the video, Adam records himself at an overseas holiday spot saying: "Not one k****r in sight, f**king heaven on earth… You cannot beat this!"
Nic, who is seven years older than Adam, said he was "horrified and shocked" when he first saw the video, calling it "disturbing".
But despite being pushed by McKaiser and callers to label his brother as racist, Nic said: "I love him and I see him as a whole human being. He is not a white supremacist. But there is racism within him."
In the interview, Nic recalled that Adam sent him a voice note last Sunday, after he had become aware that the now ubiquitous video had been leaked on social media after he had sent it to a WhatsApp group.
"He was in a flat panic.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing and I realised that this was going to blow up.
"He was looking for help but I told him 'there's nothing I can do for you'," Nic recalled.
"I thought: 'Who the hell would be sitting on a beach making a video like this?'
"I was horrified. I don’t know what else to say."
During the hour-long discussion, Nic said he and his brother didn't come from a family of racists.
"I was born in 1971. I never went to school with black people, I served in the South African Defence Force. There are certain prejudices that are engrained in me that I have worked on very hard [to eradicate]. These are things that you need to be aware of constantly because they lie so deeply. It's a blind spot that you need to be vigilant and aware of," Nic told McKaiser.
Nic said his family has been "ripped apart" following the incident, with his parents having left the country on Sunday.
"[The family] had major conflict about me [doing this interview]. I’m not going to lie, it’s been extremely difficult."
Nic said the family's business, St George's Fine Foods, "doesn’t exist anymore".
Asked why he had not reprimanded his brother for his racist behaviour before, Nic said that Adam was hysterical and furious, but admitted he had been complicit in disregarding his brother's racism.
"I'm certainly not on my best game all the time. I’m a pretty flawed human being.
"I've done a lot of work in my life around the race issue. I hope going forward I can do the right thing."
