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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 hiking on the Drakensberg and returned furious, using the k-word and expressing a desire to leave South Africa.
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!"
READ: Adam Catzavelos issues apology over k-word video, vows to repent for the rest of his life
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."
READ: Adam Catzavelos has 'no immediate plans' to return to SA - father
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 any more".
Complicit
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."
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