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Cape Town – The second season of private investigator Mike Bolhuis' show on kykNET was taken off the air earlier this month after he used racist slurs. The show was simply titled Bolhuis.
Now the "security specialist" has issued an apology for the slurs which were uttered in a WhatsApp voice note.
The voice note was sent to a Potchefstroom-based client of Mike's, who had allegedly been blackmailed by someone who reportedly used pictures of a sexual nature. The client claimed that the photos were not of him and sent a WhatsApp voice note explaining his predicament to the former reality star. Mike then responded with the slurs which Channel24 will not be republishing.
In his apology -issued on Thursday - Mike confirms that he uttered the "derogatory terms" and adds: "I used these terms in anger but in retrospect realised that the use of this kind of language can hurt others and further the divide between people in our country."
SEE THE FULL STATEMENT HERE:
"On Thursday, 15 August 2019, I apologised for the derogatory terms that I used in reference to a West African syndicate. This was during a conversation with a young student who became a victim of these syndicates that fully intended to extort him. I used these terms in anger but in retrospect realised that the use of this kind of language can hurt others and further the divide between people in our country. I in no way think that my apology absolves me, and I have no expectation that my television program will continue. In my fight against crime, I have made many enemies, and I also expect that there will be opportunistic attempts now to further discredit me by these individuals. If further conversations surface that might paint me as someone who discriminates, I would like the public to understand that I now want to be part of the solution to South Africa's problems. I have always attempted to do this by fighting the scourge of crime, but my focus will also now be reconciliation and the building of bridges between our people. My apology is unconditional, for not only any discriminatory language I used previously but for the fact that I did not offer my services earlier to help build a unified country."
