Afrikaans bash bans old flag

The Little Karoo National Arts Festival has banned T-shirts bearing old South African flags and Boer-glorifying slogans.

Festival officials said they had banned clothing displaying slogans such as "100% Boer" and "Praat Afrikaans of Hou Jou Bek" (Speak Afrikaans or Shut Up), and images of the old South African flag.

But the organisers had difficulty enforcing the ban. Yesterday The Times spotted a number of stalls that stocked T-shirts displaying phrases including "100% Boer" and "People Like You Are the Reason People Like Me Kill People".

One man was spotted wearing a T-shirt with "Sjarrap Malema " printed on it.

The ban follows AWB leader Eugene Terre Blanche's murder, which caused ripples at the bash, held in Oudtshoorn, in the Karoo.

The festival's management apologised for Afrikaans singer Dozi's racial slurs at a restaurant last week. He is said to have offended diners by saying "k****r" three times when ANC Youth League president Julius Malema's name came up in conversation.

Said festival chief executive Brett Pyper: "Though the festival does not censor productions or exhibitions, our position is that the circulation of slogans where they can be seen by everyone cannot contradict our values."

Shane Sam, founder of T-shirt suppliers Gooi Mielies and initiator of the slogans, said: "We don't sell the shirts any more."