Earlier this week, MultiChoice announced that it would stop airing any content featuring Steve Hofmeyr, in order to avoid “further opportunities for him to earn money for any of his possible future work or any past material he appears in”.
That’s based on a long and storied history of putting his racist foot in his mouth, including “apartheid nostalgia and association with separatist organisations and right-wingers”.
It probably didn’t help that he recently had some parenting advice for Charlize Theron. Steve, at least she knows who her children are.
Naturally, the musician’s supporters are up in arms, and he’s been tweeting up a storm the past 24 hours. There’s plenty of outrage, and then there’s one family who seems to have completely lost the plot.
News24 has shared the video below, which is well worth a watch:
If your Afrikaans is a little rusty, here’s the exchange at the end of the video:
“Why are you breaking it?” the young boy enquires.
“Because, my bull, they [MultiChoice] have decided they don’t like Uncle Steve [Hofmeyr] and Afrikaans. I don’t like spending money on them. You see? If they want to destroy our country and our language, then we won’t continue to pay,” the man tells the boy as the older son continues to bend the dish.
Given his propensity for sowing his seeds, I’m sure there is no shortage of youngsters out there calling him ‘Oom Steve’.
Special mention to the woman in the red shirt with the hammer, who looks like she may be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.
Despite the attacks, MultiChoice isn’t backing down, and also reiterated its support for the Afrikaans arts. Here’s the Citizen:
“We are committed to the building of a non-racial society and strongly condemn any acts of discrimination. MultiChoice is proud of its support for Afrikaans, not only our investment in content for our DStv platforms but also our sponsorships of festivals, events, and the broader Afrikaans performing arts sector. Our commitment to Afrikaans and all local languages will not change,” MultiChoice’s group executive for corporate affairs Joe Heshu in a statement on Tuesday.
In an interview after the news broke, Hofmeyr said he would be shipping his content elsewhere, adding that he remembers “voting for the new SA primarily to free my colleagues from this type of old-school censorship”.
You’d be welcome to host your first live performance in the garden of the family above.
