George municipality cancels Steve Hofmeyr concert

The George municipality in the Western Cape has confirmed that it will no longer be allowing Afrikaans musician Steve Hofmeyr to use the local hall to host his concert.

"George municipality reserves the right to cancel the leasing of any municipal facility as per our policy‚ with 48 hours written notice‚" said the municipality's communications manager‚ Chantel Edwards-Klose.

"In this instance‚ the George municipality has exercised this right‚" she said in a text message.

The decision to cancel the concert came after the ANC condemned the municipality's move to allow Hofmeyr to perform at the venue‚ saying it would be insensitive to open the doors of an iconic place‚ such as the town hall‚ to Hofmeyr.

A statement circulating on social media‚ believed to be from the Western Cape ANC spokesperson Faiez Jacobs‚ said that the ANC rejected and condemned the "promotion of the racist and white supremacist Afrikaner performer Steve Hofmeyr through a concert to be held on 22 March 2018 at the George town hall”.

"We call on the municipality to immediately cancel this concert‚ disassociate themselves from Hofmeyr in the way that other sponsors like Pick n Pay‚ Land Rover and Absa have done in the past‚" it read.

Jacobs said allowing Hofmeyr to use the hall would be seen as the City's endorsement of Hofmeyr's controversial thoughts about black and coloured people.

Besides his music‚ Hofmeyr has become known for his controversial comments and position on political issues.

He was previously reported as saying that lots of aspects of apartheid "were brilliant".

In an interview with The Citizen‚ Hofmeyr was quoted as saying that he could trace back his African roots further back than EFF leader‚ Julius Malema‚ could.

“I can actually trace my roots back in South Africa further than most black people can because they only learned to read and write 100 years ago.”

In the same interview‚ Hofmeyr was reported to have said he would not have supported the 1976 Soweto march by the students because they rejected an Afrikaans education in favour of an education they did not pay for.

“They weren’t citizens; they were subjects‚” he was quoted as saying.

At one point‚ Hofmeyr was criticised for tweeting that black people were "the architects of apartheid".

Last year‚ he made comments about the old South African flag being flown at the Black Monday protests‚ saying that calling peoples' pride and cultural symbol was the hate that they were marching against.

This led to a call for a boycott of his music.