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Afrikaners must reject racial venom: ANCYL

Progressive Afrikaners must reject people like singer Steve Hofmeyr, who disseminate "racial venom", the ANC Youth League in Tshwane's Ward 91 said on Tuesday.

"While we fully respect the right of all national groups to practise their cultures in peace we wholeheartedly condemn the statement allegedly made by Hofmeyr," ANCYL spokesman Justin de Swardt said in a statement.

"We call on progressive Afrikaners to reject and isolate those who insist on spreading racial venom... We cannot allow racism to occur without consequence and it is thus critical that we make this call for the isolation and confrontation of racist elements."

He said Hofmeyr was due to participate in the "Afrikaans is Groot" (AIG) event at Moreleta Church in their ward between November 14 and 22.

In October, Hofmeyr tweeted: "Sorry to offend but in my books Blacks were the architects of Apartheid. Go figure."

The tweet caused a stir on social media and Hofmeyr was accused of being racist, stupid, and a peddler of ignorance. Beeld reported that he also had to return a sponsored bakkie to a dealership in Port Elizabeth after complaints during a tour there.

The dealership lent popular Afrikaans singers a car for two to three days whenever they performed in the city and had wanted to remain neutral during the controversy.

A column in The Times by ventriloquist and comedian Conrad Koch questioned supermarket Pick n Pay and Land Rover for sponsoring an AIG music festival on November 1 that Hofmeyr was to perform at. The AfriForum Afrikaans festival went ahead at the Voortrekker monument in Tshwane. Organisers said it allowed Hofmeyr to perform as it had sold nearly 80,000 tickets.

The ANCYL said it noted the call by Koch for consumers to boycott institutions commercially supporting Hofmeyr.

"We note that this was not the first time that racially offensive statements have been attributed to Mr Hofmeyr," said De Swardt.

"In light of the much publicised call by Koch for some form of sanction against Hofmeyr, and bearing in mind that AIG is set to take place in our ward, we feel it is our necessary duty to support the condemnation of Hofmeyr who appears to be unapologetic in his highly controversial statements regarding race."

South Africa belonged to all who live in it.

"Those who do not wish to allow peaceful co-existence, those who are caught in the past, can feel free to leave if they so wish," said De Swardt.

This week, Koch continued to tweet about Hofmeyr despite the Afrikaans singer securing an interim protection order against him. Koch plans to oppose the order.

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