Steve Hofmeyr says 'lies' are to blame for show boycotts

In the aftermath of several corporate sponsors distancing themselves from the "Afrikaans is Groot" music festival featuring Steve Hofmeyr, the musician has labelled the criticism against him as "lies".

Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has been one of the most prominent voices in calls for sponsors like Coca-Cola, DStv, Toyota and MTN to boycott Steve's shows after a tweet from the musician in 2014 resurfaced on social media late last week. In the tweet, Steve claimed black people were the "architects of apartheid".

Following Lesufi's calls, MTN, Coca-Cola and Toyota have all distanced themselves from the muso and the event, while Emerald Resort and Casino in the Vaal cancelled its concert featuring the musician.

Steve and his management team have not responded to several attempts for comment from TshisaLIVE, but the musician has been somewhat vocal on social media about the boycotts.

In a series of tweets on Thursday, Steve slammed some of the criticism against him and said sponsors were leaving over "lies" about him.

"All the things I heard I said: 1. we want to go back to Apartheid. 2. Blacks were bad. 3. apartheid was better than democracy. 3. I sang the k-word 4. I have an affinity for posting old flags. For these lies (and barbaric unrest control) our sponsors flee," he tweeted.

He added that he was tired of explaining himself.