The Afrikaans kykNET Ghoema Music Awards to continue as it faces numerous challenges, Heidi Edeling out as CEO.

The Afrikaans Ghoema Music Awards that was overshadowed by controversy this year will continue – along with kykNET as a sponsor – although Heidi Edeling is out as CEO of the Ghoema Music Trust.

Controversy erupted in April before the 8th annual kykNET Ghoema Music Awards at the Sun Arena in Pretoria when MultiChoice demanded the removal of “Die Land” music video as an already-announced nominee in one of the categories because it featured the controversial Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr appearing as one of a group of artists in the video. 

MultiChoice said that it would revoke its sponsorship of the Ghoemas if the music video was not removed and the Ghoemas agreed.

The planned live broadcast of the 2019 Ghoema Music Awards was scuppered without any warning and Steve Hofmeyr’s son Devon who didn’t have accreditation or tickets but circumvented security and got a seat inside the venue was removed when he and a friend tried to cause a disruption during an acceptance speech.

At its first meeting on Wednesday after this year’s awards show that included representatives from record companies like Coleske Artists, Sony/Select, Universal Music, Vonk as well as kykNET whose channels boss Karen Meiring is one of the trustees, the Ghoemas management decided to continue with the awards despite numerous challenges. Heidi Edeling will no longer serve as CEO and a trustee of the Ghoemas.

Angry singer Steve Hofmeyr films how he cancels his MultiChoice account, rips DStv dish off the roof and workers showing him to keep driving over his DStv decoder as he promises R10 000 to someone doing the same.

The Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr on Thursday made an edited show-and-tell video of cancelling his DStv account with the pay-TV provider MultiChoice, ripping off his DStv satellite dish, and then driving over his DStv decoder, specifically also co-opting by filming and editing in black workers on his property motioning with their arms that he must keep driving over it.

With his video, filmed in portrait format and placed on Facebook, Steve Hofmeyr in an accompanying rant, wrote that he is starting a competition with a R10 000 prize for one lucky winner who decides to do the same and film it. "We will choose one lucky willer by 1 June 2019" he wrote.

"I'm apparently done with MultiChoice all their channels, like kykNET and Showmax as well as Media24 (please stop calling me), and a few others who I will name in time. I see 7de Laan at least gives blanket indemnity to its racist actress Vinette, something which Afrikaans is Groot will never get away with".


Earlier Steve Hofmeyr wrote that he's planning a "special funeral" for his DStv satellite dish.

The controversial artist who moved from mass market Afrikaans entertainer the past few years to making increasingly provocative and incensed public statements about race, is angry that the pay-TV company decided to actively enact a block on the broadcast of him and his entertainment content to prevent the company from funnelling money from their DStv subscribers to his wallet.

His actions follow after MultiChoice decided that it would "in future not carry any content that includes Steve Hofmeyr on any of its platforms".

MultiChoice will also start to work to remove library content that he appears in or are responsible for from all its platforms and not rebroadcast it again. 

In short, the Randburg-based pay-TV company as a private company that listed in February doesn’t want money that it makes from its paying customers through showing entertainment content on any of its DStv channels, its video streaming service Showmax or any of its audio channels, to go to him.

The race-baiting artist who previously stated on social media that "blacks are the architects of apartheid", who kept singing Die Stem at concerts and arts festivals, and would gaslight with photos and messages of the old South African flag will no longer get any exposure on, be allowed to appear on, or be able to make any money from DStv or any of its broadcasting brands like kykNET. 

Angry artist Steve Hofmeyr plans a 'special funeral' for his DStv dish; says he will cancel his 4 DStv decoders after MultiChoice decides to block his entertainment content on any of its platforms.

Steve Hofmeyr is predicting the downfall of MultiChoice, with the controversial singer now saying he will be organising a “special funeral” for his DStv satellite dish and that he plans to cancel the pay-TV service of his 4 DStv decoders.

The controversial artist who moved from mass market Afrikaans entertainer the past few years to making increasingly provocative and incensed public statements about race, is angry that the pay-TV company decided to actively enact a block on the broadcast of him and his entertainment content to prevent the company from funneling money from their DStv subscribers to his wallet.

It doesn’t mean that Hofmeyr won’t be seen or reported on for instance in news and current affairs on news channels but that MultiChoice will no longer enter into new contracts about any existing or future entertainment work he appears in or that he is involved in.

MultiChoice will also start to work to remove library content that he appears in or are responsible for from all its platforms and not rebroadcast it again. In short, the Randburg-based pay-TV company as a private company that listed in February doesn’t want money that it makes from its paying customers through showing entertainment content on any of its DStv channels, its video streaming service Showmax or any of its audio channels, to go to him.

The race-baiting artist who previously stated on social media that "blacks are the architects of apartheid", who kept singing Die Stem at concerts and arts festivals, and would gaslight with photos and messages of the old South African flag will no longer get any exposure on, be allowed to appear on, or be able to make any money from DStv or any of its broadcasting brands like kykNET.

In an Afrikaans message on social media, Hofmeyr on Wednesday encouraged his followers to get rid of DStv, saying “we are reaching our people on many more places than TV”. It’s not clear who the “our people” refers to. 

He also said “this is a call to independence. We will see the downfall of MultiChoice in our lifetime. I’ve organised a special funeral for my satellite dish”.

While getting rid of his DStv and predicting MultiChoice’s future demise, Steve Hofmeyr took time to investigate and watch DStv and noted that DStv on Wednesday still “played my music this morning by the way”.

DStv is done with Steve Hofmeyr; pay-TV operator MultiChoice says that it will no longer carry any content that includes him.

MultiChoice is done with Steve Hofmeyr with the pay-TV company that will now actively block him and content in which he might appear in future, including a block on the broadcast of any library material that features him, from being shown on DStv.

Going forward, MultiChoice's DStv service won't give the Afrikaans artist Steve Hofmeyr (54) any public exposure through airtime, or further opportunities for him to earn money for any of his possible future work or any past material he appears in, by no longer providing a platform for it to be broadcast.

The controversial and race-baiting artist who previously stated on social media that "blacks are the architects of apartheid", who kept singing Die Stem at concerts and arts festivals and would gaslight with photos and messages of the old South African flag will no longer get any exposure on, be allowed to appear on, or be able to make any money from DStv or any of its broadcasting brands like kykNET.

MultiChoice, that threatened to withdraw its sponsorship of an Afrikaans music awards show held earlier this month if a new music video in which Steve Hofmeyr appeared wasn't removed as a nominee in one of the categories, no longer wants to be associated with him or any of his past or future content.

Earlier this month, after the organisers of the 2019 kykNET Ghoema Music Awards pulled the nomination of Die Land (The Land) music video in which Steve Hofmeyr appears alongside other Afrikaans singers, Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's group executive for corporate affairs, in a statement said "We are committed to the building of a non-racial society and strongly condemn any acts of discrimination".

"MultiChoice is proud of its support for Afrikaans, not only our investment in content for our DStv platforms but also our sponsorships of festivals, events and the broader Afrikaans performing arts sector."

"Our commitment to Afrikaans and all local languages will not change. It has come to our attention that Steve Hofmeyr was nominated for a Ghoema music award in the category for Best Music video."

"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."

Following this, TVwithThinus sought clarity from MultiChoice and asked if it's distancing itself as a broadcasting company from a new music video featuring Steve Hofmeyr, what its view is in terms of showing any other existing or future Hofmeyr-connected content.

Following the Ghoemas brouhaha, the Randburg-based pay-TV company is now making it clear that it's not just the new music video but any content that includes Steve Hofmeyr.

MultiChoice won't air future Steve Hofmeyr content he might appear in and will try to prevent the broadcast of any archive material in which he features.

"The MultiChoice Group will in future not carry content that includes Steve Hofmeyr on any of its platforms," the company told me.

The impact of MultiChoice's decision will be wide-ranging for the artist.

He has a big collection of music videos and popular songs that once enjoyed continuous airplay across DStv channels, and once was the host of the long-running talk show Dis Hoe Dit is ... met Steve on kykNET (DStv 144).

He made numerous appearances until recently across a wide range of music, variety and magazine shows across the kykNET channels like Kwêla and Afrikaans music concerts that were broadcast as TV specials.

He appeared as a soap star in M-Net's Egoli getting re-airings, and drama series like Agter Elke Man repeated on kykNET as well as the SABC Encore (DStv 156) channel that is part of a MultiChoice channels deal with the SABC.

Steve Hofmeyr also appeared in several feature films, like for instance Agter Elke Man (1990), No Hero (1992) and more recently Platteland (2011), Pretville (2012) and Treurgrond (2015). MultiChoice's decision means those movies likely won't be screened on DStv anymore.

It's now also a given that Steve Hofmeyr won't get any mention, or appear in anything that kykNET produces in terms of special look-back TV programming as part of its celebration plans in 5 month's time for its big 20th anniversary happening in October 2019.

Should a channel like Comedy Central (DStv 122) from Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) for instance want to show a marathon of its Comedy Central Roast of ... episodes, the 2012-episode featuring Steve Hofmeyr will in such a case likely not form part of such a multi-episode airing.

TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. Many unanswered questions from MultiChoice and kykNET remain after TV and sponsors interfered and demanded the removal of an artist as nominee - it will cloud the credibility of all award shows they're involved with going forward.

At one point or another, MultiChoice and M-Net's Afrikaans channels division kykNET are going to have to answer the questions posed to it after they as television, sponsor and broadcaster directly interfered in a national performing arts award prize giving and demanded the removal of a nominee.

MultiChoice and kykNET handled it extremely badly and then didn't want to answer specific questions about the actions it took.

The heavy-handed way in which MultiChoice and kykNET said that it won't be associated with someone they don't want to be associated with anymore, and then botched the resulting fallout and controversy, will cast a pall going forward over all award shows where MultiChoice and kykNET are either acting as sponsors, or are involved with to whatever degree as name sponsors or organisers.

When MultiChoice decided to give the organisers of the 2019 kykNET Ghoema Music Awards an ultimatum to remove the singer Steve Hofmeyr as a nominee from one of the categories of the awards show because it deems the race-baiting Afrikaans singer now persona non-grata and a racist, it also made the mistake of overstepped the line as sponsor to become judge, awards show jury member and artist executioner.

In a functioning democracy with freedom of association, it's completely fine and correct for MultiChoice or any company or sponsor to say that they don't want to be involved with something or someone and to either not become involved or to withdraw.

Where MultiChoice and kykNET however erred were in their direct interference of nominees.

The interference meant that MultiChoice and kykNET - instead of the Ghoema Music Trust - became directly involved in who the nominees are - or more specifically who will not be - and effectively usurped a "choosing" or censorship right.

Sponsors of competitions don't choose the winners and losers - the experts, the judges or the public do.

With many unanswered questions from MultiChoice and kykNET it will now cloud the credibility of all awards they're involved with going forward.

MultiChoice and kykNET need to step up and answer and explain in detail and on the record to what degree and how they will - or won't - interfere in arts and art awards shows in future.

Nobody in South Africa's TV industry currently knows how MultiChoice and its brands like kykNET now see their role when they partner with awards shows.

Are they merely name sponsors or do they demand overall veto power over any and all categories and nominees before and after they're announced?

From the DStv Mzansi Viewers' Choice Awards, to the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards, what guarantee do anybody in the industry and the public have that the sponsor isn't deciding who the winner or winners will be - or won't?

If a "Steve Hofmeyr" or anyone for whatever reason is deemed "unapproved" and makes an appearance, guest-appearance or has music licensed and used in any of the film nominee categories for the upcoming 2019 kykNET Silwerskermfilmfees, will that artistic work be thrown out, discarded, banned or be ineligible because the sponsor doesn't like the contribution?

And where exactly does MultiChoice now stand for instance with artistic work that is by or contains Steve Hofmeyr if it didn't want a new music video that included the artist to be part of an awards show? Are any of his music videos allowed to air on any DStv channels?

If Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) for instance wants to run a Comedy Central Roast of ... marathon on Comedy Central (DStv 122) in future, would the Comedy Central Roast of Steve Hofmeyr episode be allowed as part of the set?

Clarity on these and multiple other questions and issues are sorely needed by South Africa's TV and its creative arts industry.

Instead of demanding the removal of an already-announced nominee, MultiChoice, if it felt it really had to act after nominees were already chosen and announced, should have asked the Ghoema board to rather waylay the entire category to rechoose new nominees from scratch, or to come to a new decision about the awarding of a winner for it later.

Although not desirable but the lesser of evils, in March, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) and Saftas organisers withdrew the whole category for Best Documentary Short from 2019's 13th South African Film and Television Awards instead of just the one nominee, when a problem arose before the award show happened but after the nominees had already been announced.

The judges reconvened and only awarded a winner this week for Best Documentary Short after the category was rejudged.

You can understand why some artists said that they would boycott the 2019 kykNET Ghoema Music Awards after the interference.

You can understand how unfair it was for the singers and performers who were nominated and who did nothing wrong, to suddenly get thrown out and discarded because someone else happened to appear with them in a song and a music video.

It was also presumably very difficult if not impossible for some artists to protest about something being done to them that was wrong - a sponsor deciding that a nomination must be axed - without themselves coming across as supporting or endorsing a racist which is part of another issue entirely. 

Sponsors and broadcasters are not art directors. They're not the appointed judges and art critics to evaluate the artistic merit of nominees in performance art competitions. They don't get to decide who should win or not.

Furthermore, the way and the broad lack of communication from MultiChoice and kykNET during the furore and kykNET's lack of answers to pertinent questions from the media allowed other elements to hijack the narrative and mar the 2019 Ghoemas.

When future historians, researchers, students and the public use internet search engines and scour public records of this time about award show credibility in South Africa on television during the second decade of the 21st century, what will they find in statements and answers and explanations from broadcasters at the time?

MultiChoice and kykNET should have immediately switched to doing crisis communication, should have responded and have talked to the media much more and quicker, and should have had answers ready to not just what they were doing at the time, but what their stance is going forward.

Now not just the TV industry, but also the music industry (and the Afrikaans music industry in particular), the broader public, kykNET viewers and supporters, and those entering award shows, are all left wondering where exactly the dividing lines are.


ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. I said no to Steve Hofmeyr years ago - then South African Afrikaans television finally caught up and rightly said no but in one of the worst ways possible.
ALSO READ: Ongoing silence from kykNET as DStv's Afrikaans channel remains quiet over questions around its handling of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 controversy.
ALSO READ: MultiChoice orders the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards to remove Steve Hofmeyr as nominee, as kykNET dumps it as a live broadcast, after which singers now say they will boycott tonight's awards show.  

TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. I said no to Steve Hofmeyr years ago - then South African Afrikaans television finally caught up and rightly said no but in one of the worst ways possible.

After years South African Afrikaans television finally seemed to have caught on that Steve Hofmeyr is no longer as they say in marketing terms "a good fit for our brand" - and then clumsily stumbled ahead in the worst and wrongest way possible to do the right thing to get distance from him.

MultiChoice and M-Net's Afrikaans channel division kykNET are absolutely right for finally drawing a line between the DStv pay-TV service and the race-baiting Afrikaans singer this past week with MultiChoice in a statement saying "we take a stand against racism".

However, MultiChoice as a sponsor and kykNET inflicted a lot of unnecessary damage and were wrong to directly interfere in a televised music award show by demanding the removal of a music video as a nominee.

Quite a number of years ago, the SABC invited some journalists - me included - to media event entitled "An evening with Pasella featuring Steve Hofmeyr" as part of the SABC2 Afrikaans magazine show Pasella.

I responded and told the SABC2 publicist Caroline Phalakatshela thank you but that I decline and that although I would love to attend a Pasella event that is part of the South African public broadcaster, that I won't ever attend something where Steve Hofmeyr features since it's my personal belief and opinion that he is actually racist.

A while afterwards I then spoke to another longtime TV critics and discovered that the person who was also invited, also declined the invitation, and also declined for the exact same reason.

Yet at the time, Afrikaans media and Afrikaans television simply couldn't get enough of their "Steve".

The Afrikaans weekly magazine Huisgenoot's had an utter obsession with a rude and arrogant Steve (who eventually threw tea in the face of Esmare Weideman as then-editor of Huisgenoot/YOU at Sun City), to kykNET (DStv 144).

M-Net's kykNET continued courting him with multiple ongoing invites to make appearances on all kinds of music, variety, entertainment magazine, talk show and other programmes and even the Kwêla couch time after time after time, while even SABC2 couldn't dish up enough Steve for viewers.

Long before "fake news" was coined by Donald Trump, it was M-Net that gave Steve Hofmeyr a platform on kykNET where his longrunning Dis Hoe Dit Is Met Steve Afrikaans talk show with multiple repeats would often broadcast "fake news" left totally unchecked and unfiltered by kykNET and slurped up by its Afrikaans audience.

Just one broadcasting example: On Dis Hoe Dit Is Met Steve on kykNET, Steve would laugh heartily and repeat when one of his former co-stars from the SABC's former Afrikaans drama series Agter Elke Man (Behind Every Man) Sulette Thompson would spout utter trash that there can't be a rebroadcast on the SABC or anywhere of their erstwhile show else because the public broadcaster had "lost" the tapes.

The truth is that no tapes were lost. In fact, MultiChoice helped the SABC to digitise the series from the original tapes and the show saw rebroadcasts on not just kykNET but also the SABC's SABC Encore (DStv 156) channel.

It's small things in the bigger scope of things, but notable because I saw it and noticed a similar behavioural trend in the way that you're not surprised eventually when, years later, you see what happens to personalities like a Paula Deen or a Bill O'Reilly.

Steve Hofmeyr who would increasingly make racist comments, do race-baiting with for instance a photo with the old South African flag, and spout disgusting things like "black are the architects of apartheid" went on to become a more and more polarising and divisive personality - not just within the broader Afrikaans community but in South Africa as a whole.

This continued until it finally simply became just too untenable and unpalatable for major companies, national brands and arts festivals from the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK) to Inniebos, and even rugby to be associated with him.

He is the reason brands from Media24, Pick n Pay, Land Rover, Toyota and MTN to MultiChoice withdrew as sponsors from events where he was included.

Cue the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 where the organisers and judges this year selected a music video, Die Land (The Land) as one of the three nominees for its Best Music Video category in which several Afrikaans artists appear but also featuring Steve Hofmeyr.

Viewers already voted for the category, paying money. Other Afrikaans singers who are not Steve Hofmeyr stood a chance to win who happened to appear in the same music video. And the organisers and judges of the Ghoema Music Trust already independently selected it as one of the shortlisted nominees.

It's absolutely correct for MultiChoice and its kykNET channels to want to get distance and not be involved with anything "Steve Hofmeyr" going forward. It's also their free choice of free association.

Where MultiChoice and kykNET however made a big mistake was to interfere in an award show by demanding the removal of a nominee after the nominees were announced.

Imagine a sponsor of the independently-run Grammys or MTV Music Awards in the United States ordering the organisers to remove a nominee? It would be a massive scandal.

The selection and choice of winners and shortlisted nominees in competitions and TV award shows are sacrosanct - it's preposterous and unheard of for a sponsor to demand terms like the removal of a nominee from a category in a competition.

Instead, MultiChoice and kykNET should have just left it and have withdrawn their support completely without making ultimatums that interfere with the nominees, categories and judging. MultiChoice isn't a judge of the competition but a sponsor.

MultiChoice and kykNET as sponsor and broadcaster should very clearly, and much, much earlier, have said something like "we distance ourselves in the strongest possible terms from this person", have stated explicitly why, and then also that it would no longer support the Ghoemas in future if Steve is included or anywhere close-by. 

This shocking interference damages and did damage to the credibility of the Ghoema Music Awards. Both the public and singers will no longer trust it, or trust it less.

And talking about trust, how did Steve Hofmeyr's son Devon get inside the venue without a ticket with a friend where he planned to and deliberately cause a disruption? Where is the security and what is the security arrangements at the Ghoema Music Awards like?

As a journalist I attend a lot of stuff and public events for broadcasting and do set visits where access control is of the utmost importance and very secure. Clearly it's somehow not at the Ghoemas. 

In addition, the communication from MultiChoice, kykNET and the Ghoema organisers to manage perceptions and the resultant fallout from the swirling controversy on a consumer level as well as within the broadcasting industry was inadequate, slow, reactive and basically non-existent.

This caused additional brand, perception and credibility damage to the awards show - of which there isn't a lot in existence in South Africa to start with, meaning the existing ones should be carefully nutured.

kykNET also seems to shy away from openly talking, engaging with the media and discussing its stance as a TV channel, its decisions and its policies going way forward.

Days later after the awards show here at TVwithThinus we're still waiting for instance on kykNET and the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards organisers to answer very basic broadcasting-related questions.

What is kykNET's reaction? If MultiChoice distanced itself from a new music video in which Steve Hofmeyr appears, has kykNET place the kibosh on the airing of any of his music videos, series or on-air appearances across its channels set like Kwêla couch interviews?

Why was the scheduled live award show broadcast scuppered and media not told well ahead of time? And how will people who had spent money to vote for the removed music video get a refund?

MultiChoice, kykNET and the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 organisers also knew for weeks in advance what they were doing and changing, but all chose to sit silently, not being open with the public and the industry, waiting until the bomb exploded this week.

I also feel bad for the other Afrikaans singers not connected or related to Steve Hofmeyr who got caught up in the maelstrom of an impossible situation not of their making.

They were thrown out as the bathwater together with the baby - and that was wrong. And how can they protest or raise their voices legitimately over undue creative and judging interference without making it look as if they support Steve Hofmeyr - something that would conflate two different issues?

South Africa's Afrikaans television was finally forced to confronted an issue - and someone - it should have addressed and have dealt with a long time ago.

It however did so clumsily and it did so in a wrong way by far overstepping its role through meddling in the organising of an awards show. Yet the sentiment and message from MultiChoice and kykNET that shines through are very clear: That as a TV business they won't tolerate racism.

Institutionalised action often follows long after public sentiment. I soured on Steve Hofmeyr more than a decade ago.

I'm just glad that the TV broadcast media in the country finally caught up as well.


ALSO READ: Ongoing silence from kykNET as DStv's Afrikaans channel remains quiet over questions around its handling of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 controversy.
ALSO READ: Afrikaans singer Demi Lee Moore after winning Best Music Video at controversial kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 honours artists from removed nomination as Steve Hofmeyr's son is told to leave the auditorium.
ALSO READ: MultiChoice orders the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards to remove Steve Hofmeyr as nominee, as kykNET dumps it as a live broadcast, after which singers now say they will boycott tonight's awards show. 

Ongoing silence from kykNET as DStv's Afrikaans channel remains quiet over questions around its handling of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 controversy.

M-Net's Afrikaans kykNET channels division is still silent with director Karen Meiring who has not responded with any answers in media enquiries the past two days to questions around pertinent issues around the channel's handling of its kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 awards show that was plunged into controversy this week.

kykNET, that appears to have managed the controversy involving its Afrikaans channel brand badly, has been asked since Wednesday afternoon and several times since, for comment from the channel specifically pertaining to channel management, channel brand, policy and strategy issues.

The controversy surrounding the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 came follows after an ultimatum from MultiChoice as the main sponsor, ordering that a music video nominee featuring Steve Hofmeyr, be removed from the Afrikaans music awards show.

The singer Steve Hofmeyr who had a long-running Safta-winning talk and variety show, Dis Hoe Dit Is Met Steve for several years on kykNET (DStv 144) since 2001, has increasingly courted public controversy and acrimony the past few years.

With provocative public statements, as well as ongoing race-baiting comments and images on social media like saying "blacks are the architects of apartheid" and supporting the old South African flag, the singer has increasingly become a polarising and persona non grata public figure within the Afrikaans and broader South African community.

Steve Hofmeyr happened to appear in the Die Land (The Land) music video that was a nominee in the category for Best Music Video at the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019. Besides him, it features several other Afrikaans singers like Bok van Blerk, Bobby van Jaarsveld, Jay, and Touch of Class.

The badly-attended awards show managed by the Ghoema Music Trust - likely due to the resulting controversy that made talent and ticket-buyers rather stay away - took place on Wednesday evening at the Sun Arena at Times Square in Pretoria.

kykNET originally scheduled it as a live awards show broadcast for Wednesday evening but then quietly dumped it without any notification to the media and shifted it to Saturday night, 20 April as an edited programme - likely out of caution and fear of possible live on-air disruption or messages it won't be able to prevent as part of a live broadcast.

Several DStv subscribers on social media also indicated throughout Wednesday that they have called to cancel their DStv and kykNET channel pay-TV subscriptions and others who said they are going to do so.

Meanwhile several Afrikaans singers like Bok van Blerk, Bobby van Jaarsveld, Dewald Wasserfall, Corlea Botha, Adam Tas, Nicholis Louw and Ruhan du Toit decided to boycott the awards show and were no-shows.

The Afrikaans singer Demi Lee Moore who won in the category for Best Music Video at the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 in her acceptance speech on-stage on Wednesday night honoured the 5 artists from the music video that MultiChoice as sponsor ordered to be removed.

Steve Hofmeyr's son Devon and a friend were also told to leave the awards show venue after they somehow gained entry without tickets and tried to cause disruption.

kykNET was asked since Wednesday about various issues that South Africa's TV industry has been wondering about.

So far the channel has been silent, with only MultiChoice that is running the DStv satellite pay-TV service on which the kykNET channel is carried, issuing an overall statement, saying "We are committed to the building of a non-racial society and strongly condemn any acts of discrimination" and that the company "welcomes a society where freedom of speech is celebrated, however we take a stand against racism".

On Thursday morning kykNET spokesperson Suzaan Keyter told TVwithThinus that it wasn't possible to respond to media enquiries on Wednesday since kykNET staff were all at, and busy at, the venue.

kykNET was again asked for answers to the various questions on Thursday morning and Thursday before the close of day but by Friday kykNET still hasn't responded to the media. No explanation has yet been forthcoming as to why kykNET couldn't respond to media enquiries on Thursday the day after the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019.

Karen Meiring was asked for reaction from kykNET as a channel over MultiChoice as a sponsor ordering the Ghoema Music Awards to remove a nominee after nominees were chosen and announced.

kykNET was also asked for its reaction over the Afrikaans singers not connected to Steve Hofmeyr, who said - and then went through - with their boycott of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019.

With MultiChoice refusing to support and distancing itself from a new music video in which Steve Hofmeyr appears, kykNET was asked whether kykNET as a channel on DStv is still allowed to schedule and broadcast Steve Hofmeyr music videos - in other words, whether any type of ban, block or policy decision has been placed or made at M-Net regarding the future airing of any of his entertainment work on kykNET.

kykNET was also asked for the channel's response to DStv subscribers who said that they have called and cancelled their DStv subscriptions and customers who said that they intend to, and also what kykNET's message is to the channel's viewers in the light of events.

kykNET was also asked how viewers and consumer who had voted and spent money on voting for Die Land music video in the category before it was removed from the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019, would be paid back or refunded, and whether this is at all possible.


ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. I said no to Steve Hofmeyr years ago - then South African Afrikaans television finally caught up and rightly said no but in one of the worst ways possible.
ALSO READ: Afrikaans singer Demi Lee Moore after winning Best Music Video at controversial kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 honours artists from removed nomination as Steve Hofmeyr's son is told to leave the auditorium.
ALSO READ: MultiChoice orders the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards to remove Steve Hofmeyr as nominee, as kykNET dumps it as a live broadcast, after which singers now say they will boycott tonight's awards show.

Afrikaans singer Demi Lee Moore after winning Best Music Video at controversial kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 honours artists from removed nomination as Steve Hofmeyr's son is told to leave the auditorium.

The Afrikaans singer Demi Lee Moore who won in the category for Best Music Video at the controversial kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 on Wednesday night which kykNET (DStv 144) dumped as a live awards show broadcast, honoured the 5 artists from the music video that MultiChoice as sponsor ordered to be removed, while Steve Hofmeyr's son Devon and a friend were told to leave the awards show.

In her on-stage acceptance speech at the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 at the Sun Arena at Times Square in Pretoria that was a very empty awards show due to the growing controversy, Demi Lee Moore showed solidarity with the artists of Die Land ("The Land") music video.

The music video was nominated in the same category as Demi Lee Moore, after which MultiChoice, as a sponsor and kykNET, ordered the video to be removed since it featured the controversial singer Steve Hofmeyr who appears in it together with several other artists.

MultiChoice on 25 March gave the Ghoema Music Trust an ultimatum and ordered the awards show to remove Steve Hofmeyr and one of his songs from the nominee list and told the organisers that MultiChoice will withdraw as a sponsor if this isn't done.

The Land featuring Afrikaans singers like Bok van Blerk, Bobby van Jaarsveld, Jay, and Touch of Class, besides Steve Hofmeyr.

Steve Hofmeyr as a white Afrikaans man has increasingly courted public controversy and acrimony the past few years with provocative public statements, comments and images about race on social media.

In February 2019 for instance he tweeted a photo of himself on social media posing with the old South African flag and captioned it with: "Good rains. Found a waterproof roof. Mooi ne" meaning "pretty, right?"

Demi Lee Moore in her acceptance speech said "I don't think I would have stood here if The Land wasn't removed. We are here to celebrate Afrikaans music and I feel that's what it should be about".

"Luckily, it's not about be. It's about Christian Wolf that made my video, as we as The Land video. Johan Oberholzer who wrote Mis Eet Slaap Herhaal (Missing Eat Sleep Repeat) as well as The Land."

"I want to share this with the 5 artists who are not being honoured here tonight. Furthermore I want to dedicate it to every person who still has hope in this land, who stays in this country, raising their kids in this country and who loves this country," Demi Lee Moore said.

Several singers like Bok van Blerk, Bobby van Jaarsveld, Dewald Wasserfall, Corlea Botha, Adam Tas, Nicholis Louw and Ruhan du Toit decided to boycott kykNET's Ghoemas and were no shows on Wednesday, with sponsors Bok Radio and Immunadue who both pulled their sponsorships of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019.

Meanwhile the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 told Steve Hofmeyr's son Devon and a friend who both showed up, to leave the awards show auditorium.

Devon and a friend, Francois van der Merwe, were escorted out when it was discovered that they had no tickets. It's not clear how they gained entry to the music awards show.

The controversy inflicted massive damage on the production of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 with images of the very empty-looking auditorium that were shared on social media, and people who were asked to move to the front to fill up the empty seats.

kykNET's spokesperson Suzaan Keyter and Karen Meiring, director of M-Net's Afrikaans kykNET channels have not yet responded with answers to multiple questions that were posed to the channel on Wednesday about the swirling kykNET Ghoema Music Awards controversy.


ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. I said no to Steve Hofmeyr years ago - then South African Afrikaans television finally caught up and rightly said no but in one of the worst ways possible.
ALSO READ: Ongoing silence from kykNET as DStv's Afrikaans channel remains quiet over questions around its handling of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 controversy.
ALSO READ: MultiChoice orders the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards to remove Steve Hofmeyr as nominee, as kykNET dumps it as a live broadcast, after which singers now say they will boycott tonight's awards show. 

MultiChoice orders the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards to remove Steve Hofmeyr as nominee, as kykNET dumps it as a live broadcast, after which singers now say they will boycott tonight's awards show.

MultiChoice has ordered the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards for Afrikaans music and broadcast on M-Net's Afrikaans language channel kykNET (DStv 144) to remove Steve Hofmeyr as a nominee, with kykNET that has abruptly removed it as a live broadcast tonight from its schedule, and with several singers who have announced that they will now boycott the Ghoemas.

The kykNET Ghoema Music Awards are set to take place this evening, 17 April, at the Sun Arena at Times Square in Pretoria and was originally set to be a live broadcast awards show ceremony on kykNET at 20:00, with the Ghoema Music Awards that agreed to MultiChoice's demand as a sponsor for one of its selected category nominees to be removed.

MultiChoice on 25 March gave the Ghoema Music Trust an ultimatum and ordered the awards show to remove Steve Hofmeyr and one of his songs from the nominee list and told the organisers that MultiChoice will withdraw as a sponsor if this isn't done.

kykNET has meanwhile dumped the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 as a live broadcast tonight with any warning or advisory to the media which will now be a recorded show that will be shown on Saturday 20 April at 20:00.

Several DStv subscribers on social media also indicated that they have on Wednesday called to cancel their DStv and kykNET channe pay-TV subscriptions and others who said they are going to do so.

The song Die Land (The Land), that features Steve Hofmeyr along with other Afrikaans singers like Bok van Blerk, Bobby van Jaarsveld, Jay, and Touch of Class, was nominated for a Ghoema award in the Best Music Video category.

Steve Hofmeyr as a white Afrikaans man has increasingly courted public controversy and acrimony the past few years with provocative public statements, comments and images about race on social media.

In February 2019 for instance he tweeted a photo of himself on social media posing with the old South African flag and captioned it with: "Good rains. Found a waterproof roof. Mooi ne" meaning "pretty, right?"

Joe Heshu, MultiChoice group executive for corporate affairs, in a statement as to why it ordered a nominee to be removed from an awards show, says "We are committed to building g of a non-racial society and strongly condemn any acts of discrimination".

"MultiChoice is proud of its support for Afrikaans, not only our investment in content for our DStv platforms, but also our sponsorships of festivals, events and the broader Afrikaans performing arts sector."

"Our commitment to Afrikaans and all local languages will not change.  It has come to our attention that Steve Hofmeyr was nominated for a Ghoema Music Award in the category for Best Music video."

"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."

kykNET's spokesperson Suzaan Keyter and M-Net's Afrikaans channels boss Karen Meiring were both asked for comment on Wednesday but have so far not responded to questions asked. When comment is received from kykNET it will be added here.

kykNET was asked for its response as a TV channel over MultiChoice, as sponsor of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019, ordering the removal of a nomination from an awards show.

kykNET was also asked for its reaction over Afrikaans artists who said they will now boycott the Ghoemas, why the plans to broadcast the awards show live was suddenly scuppered, and what it makes of DStv subscribers saying they're cancelling their subscriptions.

It's also not clear if or how people will be refunded who already spent money to vote for the music video.

Heidi Edeling, Ghoema Music Trust CEO, writes in response to MultiChoice as a sponsor ordering the removal of a category nominee that "I've received an official letter from Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's group exec for communications. Due to Steve Hofmeyr's participation in the video, MultiChoice requires that the nomination of Die Land be removed."

"Further MultiChoice says that if this doesn't happen they have no other option but to withdraw their sponsorship from the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019."

Steve Hofmeyr in a statement on his Facebook page says "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."

The other Afrikaans artists who appear in the music video, said they will now boycott the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards and will no longer be attending.

Bok van Blerk on Twitter said "I will definitely not be seen at the Ghoemas".

Bobby van Jaarsveld on Twitter said that he "will not be attending the Ghoemas. If our music isn't welcome, then we surely aren't either. Getting tired of keeping quiet while they bully us".

Dewald Wasserfall also said he won't attend and Corlea Botha said she is disappointed over the silly decision, asking "are we going to only be allowed to work with certain people?"

Bok Radio that was the sponsor of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards' Most Popular Song category said that it is withdrawing its sponsorship of the Ghoemas due to Steve Hofmeyr's music video being removed from the Best Music Video category.

"Bok Radio can't support discrimination on any level against any artists, group, or language. Bok Radio supports the arts and artists right of association, poetic freedom, and freedom of speech."

On Wednesday another sponsor of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019, the vitamin brand Immunadue, also withdrew its sponsorship after it has been involved with the Afrikaans music awards for five years.

Immunadue said that it is "shocked and disappointed. kykNET knew two months ago already about the removal but it only came to light two days before the Ghoemas. If they told us earlier we would have withdrawn as a sponsor then already but it feels as if they've tried to push us into a corner to stay involved by not telling us about it," the Immunadue CEO told Maroela Media.

Coleske Artists under whose music banner the song was entered in the Best Music Video Category in a statement says "We are deeply saddened to receive your email notifying the industry that the video of the Die Land has been withdrawn from the Ghoemas".

"Not only does this affect the artists participating, the composer of the song and director of the video, but every other artist who receives an award, as we believe that this decision will put the integrity of the awards in question."

"We have to express our utter disappointment in this decision by the Ghoema Musiek Trust, which is in vast contrast with what is stipulated in the official criteria, rules and regulations. This is a slap in the face for the arts, freedom of expression and for the furtherance of Afrikaans."

The scuppered live broadcast of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 on kykNET has now been moved to Saturday 20 April at 20:00. The blue carpet section will now be broadcast on Sunday 21 April at 18:30 on kykNET NOU! (DStv 146), followed by a rebroadcast of the awards show.


ALSO READ: Afrikaans singer Demi Lee Moore after winning Best Music Video at controversial kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 honours artists from removed nomination as Steve Hofmeyr's son is told to leave the auditorium. 
ALSO READ: Ongoing silence from kykNET as DStv's Afrikaans channel remains quiet over questions around its handling of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 controversy.
ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. I said no to Steve Hofmeyr years ago - then South African Afrikaans television finally caught up and rightly said no but in one of the worst ways possible.

Trevor Noah the official roastmaster of The Comedy Central Roast of Steve Hofmeyr to be shown on 11 September on Comedy Central.

Comedian Trevor Noah will be the official roastmaster of The Comedy Central Roast of Steve Hofmeyr which will be recorded on Tuesday 11 September and be shown on Comedy Central (DStv 122) at 21:00. It's the first such televised local roast programming for the channel in South Africa.

ALSO READ: Disgusting rip-off as Comedy Central asks studio audience members a massive R350 per person to attend studio recording for a made-for-TV event.

Other South Africans who will attempt to make fun of Steve Hofmeyr include Casper de Vries, John Vlismas and Kuli Roberts.

"Trevor Noah's involvement cements an impressive comedy line-up for Comedy Central's inaugural African Roast and sets the stage for a hugely entertaining live event and appointment-to-view television programme," says Alex Okosi, the senior vice president and managing director for Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) in a statement.