Steve Hofmeyr wants Lesufi to appear at Zondo Commision over boycotts

Steve Hofmeyr wants Panyaza Lesufi to appear before the Zondo Commission into state capture, after the Gauteng MEC for education called for several sponsors to boycott a show featuring the controversial musician.

Lesufi called on DStv, Toyota, Computicket and MTN to boycott the Afrikaans is Groot music event featuring Steve, after a tweet from the musician in 2014 resurfaced on social media. In the tweet, Steve claimed black people were the "architects of apartheid".

Media24 and Toyota SA announced on Tuesday evening that it had ended its relationship with the concert. This followed a similar announcement from MTN, while Coca Cola distanced itself from the show. 

Afriforum challenged MTN over the decision and questioned the organisation's standing on the "personal views of artists performing at the music festival". 

Steve has remained defiant in the face of the boycotts and on Thursday told his Twitter followers that he believed Lesufi's actions amounted to state capture and he should appear before the commission.

"The Zondo Commission is missing out on the most vile enterprise of state capture yet, an MEC sabotaging legal South African businesses - and they submit! Check Lesufi manipulating MTN, Toyota SA and Computicket SA on his TL. Unbelievable sh*t," he wrote.

Lesufi joined calls for Computicket to respond to messages asking if they would stop selling tickets to the show in protest.

Lesufi had not responded to TshisaLIVE's request for comment by the time of publishing. This article will be updated once a response has been received. 

Earlier this week, Afrikaans is Groot organisers announced that it would turn to its supporters for financial assistance, launching  a #JouAIG campaign, where the public will be the "main sponsor".

They added that there were no plans to cut Hofmeyr from the lineup.

Steve also hit back at the boycotts,telling his followers on social media that his supporters would not be "bullied".

"Bully us all you want, take our schools, universities, heritage and language, but you will not close down our last cultural institution. We do what we have always done and needed most: we go independent. Our primary sponsors are our people. Their souls are untouchable," he wrote, alongside a picture of people pledging their support and money to the concert.