Hofmeyr petition M.I.A.
The initiator of the 'Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration of Namibia: Ban Steve Hofmeyer' petition, said she handed in the official petition at the ministry of Home Affairs but the minister, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, has pleaded ignorance.
According to local human rights activist Lee Garises, she had hand delivered the petition to the ministry's spokesperson on 22 December and said she was promised that “it would reach the right people”.
The petition reads: “Herewith, I would like to bring to the attention of your office, a formal petition to have South African apartheid apologist, Steve Hofmeyr, banned from performing in Namibia on 28 December, or any future date.
“Steve Hofmeyr, as you might be aware, is a known racist, whose neo-apartheid agenda has made him unpopular in many countries with Zambia, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa among them. The singer openly associates with apartheid rhetoric, even performing the apartheid anthem, Die Stem, on occasion. This is a clear indication of a person who fully endorses what's happened to black Namibians.”
However, Iivula-Ithana told Namibian Sun she had no choice but to authorise Hofmeyr's visit to Namibia as there was no formal petition forthcoming for which she had waited “patiently” after learning about the online petition.
“I cannot go to the internet to look for petitions there. We work with official documents. I was in the office until Friday 22 December and my two directors were here with me, but we never heard that a petition was delivered,” she said.
In the meantime, Hofmeyr's performance at the Swakopmund Kunstefees went ahead unhindered on 28 December, despite the uproar.
He took to Twitter to brag about his “explosive” show and took a jab at Garises and her co-petitioners saying their boycott came to nothing.
Hofmeyr tweeted a picture of supporters at his show and wrote “another petition falling through its arse”.
He also referred to Namibians as “Suidwesters” making reference to Namibia's colonial past when Namibia was called South West Africa, which elicited the ire of several well-known Namibians who took to social media to criticise the South African singer.
JEMIMA BEUKES
According to local human rights activist Lee Garises, she had hand delivered the petition to the ministry's spokesperson on 22 December and said she was promised that “it would reach the right people”.
The petition reads: “Herewith, I would like to bring to the attention of your office, a formal petition to have South African apartheid apologist, Steve Hofmeyr, banned from performing in Namibia on 28 December, or any future date.
“Steve Hofmeyr, as you might be aware, is a known racist, whose neo-apartheid agenda has made him unpopular in many countries with Zambia, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa among them. The singer openly associates with apartheid rhetoric, even performing the apartheid anthem, Die Stem, on occasion. This is a clear indication of a person who fully endorses what's happened to black Namibians.”
However, Iivula-Ithana told Namibian Sun she had no choice but to authorise Hofmeyr's visit to Namibia as there was no formal petition forthcoming for which she had waited “patiently” after learning about the online petition.
“I cannot go to the internet to look for petitions there. We work with official documents. I was in the office until Friday 22 December and my two directors were here with me, but we never heard that a petition was delivered,” she said.
In the meantime, Hofmeyr's performance at the Swakopmund Kunstefees went ahead unhindered on 28 December, despite the uproar.
He took to Twitter to brag about his “explosive” show and took a jab at Garises and her co-petitioners saying their boycott came to nothing.
Hofmeyr tweeted a picture of supporters at his show and wrote “another petition falling through its arse”.
He also referred to Namibians as “Suidwesters” making reference to Namibia's colonial past when Namibia was called South West Africa, which elicited the ire of several well-known Namibians who took to social media to criticise the South African singer.
JEMIMA BEUKES
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