Should Adam Catzavelos' family be held responsible for his actions?

Listen to KZN responding to the debate, or read the details under the podcast.

Let’s be honest, social media has given us leeway when it comes to expressing ourselves freely, but the reality is that even in this day and age, people do not stop and think before posting. 

Take a moment and think about this. If a man hijacks a vehicle, gets caught, and ends up in jail, does that mean his elderly mother is also to blame? No. She didn’t commit the crime, but by association, she’s automatically involved. That’s human nature, I guess. How often do we judge her because she hasn’t brought him up correctly or without enough discipline, right?

Read - #AdamCatzavelos: 'Spouse, children's privacy should be considered'

As we’ve seen with this story, here’s another family feeling the backlash, even though the words didn’t even come out of their mouth. On Wednesday, many South Africans took to social media to condemn the words uttered by Adam Catzavelos. 

According to our Newswatch team, Catzavelos shot a video of himself on holiday and expressed his delight to not see a single "k******" around. 

"Let me give you a weather forecast. Blue skies, beautiful day, amazing sea and not one k****** in sight. You cannot beat this," he said in the video. 

It has been reported that his family business, St George's Fine Food Products, have issued a statement saying that they have dismissed him from their business. Many other brands associated with him and his family have also condemned his actions. 

On Wednesday, popular sports brand Nike issued a statement distancing themselves from the incident. It is reported that his wife works for them as a merchandising manager. I trolled through Twitter to go through the comments and saw many calling out his family and his wife, blaming them for his moment of stupidity.

Why? Why should they be dragged into the mix? It begs the question: What do you do when you hear a relative or friend who says something you cannot ignore - especially if it's offensive? Are you as much to blame because you haven’t tackled them on it before or will you use the excuse that you’ve only just begun to notice it now?

Read: #AdamCatzavelos fired following racist video

The thing is, we all say things that are hurtful in some form, but in this day and age, to engage in this disgusting, toxic behaviour that can range between being racist, sexist, homophobic, and abusive is absolutely unacceptable. I strongly condemn the actions of Adam Catzavelos and hope that justice will prevail over this matter, which has to be taken seriously. 

But as far as his family being held responsible for his actions, I don't think they should be the ones being dragged for what he said. He must take responsibility for what he said, after all, it was him who made the video, not his family. 

What do you think? Should his family be held accountable?