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Steve Hofmeyr's son wasn't 'kicked out' of Ghoemas – he was asked to leave for trying to 'disrupt a speaker' and not having a ticket

Cape Town – Steve Hofmeyr's son, Devon Hofmeyr, claims he was "thrown out" of the Ghoema Music Awards for standing up for his "language and culture" that was being "suppressed by its own people". 

Devon attended the event to protest the fact that his father's song Die Land (The Land) was removed from the nominee list by request of the event's sponsor, MultiChoice. 

The youngster posted a video on Facebook of him and a friend, Francois van der Merwe, being escorted out of the Sun Arena in Pretoria where the Ghoema Music Awards took place on Wednesday night. (Watch the video here)

"Because we're standing up against lies that are being told to our people on stage. Ghoemas…take that!" Devon captioned the video. 

Channel24 reached out to the organisers for clarity on the matter. 

"During the speech by Shihaam Domingo about the Hip Hop category two men stood up and tried to disrupt the speaker. Our security personal responded immediately and found that they had no accreditation or tickets for the evening. They were asked to leave and escorted out of the venue.," said Suzaan Keyter, spokesperson for kykNET.

She added: "The video that has been circulated supports the peaceful encounter." 

Shihaam's speech was related to hip hop and how it unifies people with different backgrounds. During Shihaam's speech, that Devon tried to interrupt, she said: "Hip hop gives every voice, every version of Afrikaans the right to exist that it deserves. It speaks the naked truth…without fear, without an accent, without reservation, and without being judged." 

Despite this the event went off without a hitch and the night was dominated by female winners including Demi Lee Moore and Tarryn Lamb. (See all the winners here)

Demi Lee dedicated her award for Best Music Video to the men behind Die Land (The Land) video. During her acceptance speech she also said: "This award goes to every person that still has hope in this country. That stays in this country. That raise their children in this country. That love this country." (Watch the video here)

The Ghoema Music Awards will be broadcast on kykNET (DStv 144) on 20 April at 20:00. Catch all the glitz and glam from the blue carpet on Sunday, 21 April at 18:30 on kykNET NOU! (DStv 146). A repeat of the award show will be broadcast directly after. 

WHY STEVE WAS REMOVED AS NOMINEE

"MultiChoice is the main sponsor of the Ghoema Music Awards. An ultimatum was made to the Ghoema Trust by MultiChoice to withdraw the nomination of Die Land (The Land) music video featuring Steve Hofmeyr as the company didn't want to be associated with him. MultiChoice projects must align with the values of the company," Heidi Edeling, CEO of the Ghoema Music Trust, told Channel24 in a statement

Joe Heshu, MultiChoice Group Executive Corporate Affairs, told Channel24 on Wednesday: "We have requested that Steve Hofmeyr not form part of the event that we sponsor as his views are not aligned with our values. We welcome a society where freedom of speech is celebrated, however we take a stand against racism."

Steve Hofmeyr is known for his extremely provocative statements about race and often right-wing comments. In 2014 he tweeted: "Sorry to offend but in my books Blacks were the architects of Apartheid. Go figure." In February this year Steve tweeted a photo of himself with the old South African flag with the caption: "Good rains. Found a waterproof roof. Mooi ne." (Translation: Pretty, right?)

About the incident Steve wrote on Facebook: "The bottomless childishness continues. Hi-jacking the arts, especially the white part of it. Just look at how MultiChoice is making the Afrikaners at the Ghoemas jump through a fire hoop of political correctness like poodles."

ALSO READ: Why Steve Hofmeyr is increasingly being isolated

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