Steve Hofmeyr slams New Zealand gig 'protest' claims

Afrikaans musician Steve Hofmeyr has lambasted recent reports‚ which claimed that his gig in New Zealand was canned due to protests over his controversial comments and position on political issues.

Steve will headline the annual Afrikaans is Lekker tour to Australia and New Zealand later this month alongside a number of South African artists. The tour made headlines recently when it was claimed that the Wellington‚ New Zealand show was cancelled amidst protests from international expat group African-European Indaba.

Speaking to TshisaLIVE‚ Steve labeled the reports as "fake news" and said the tour would go full steam ahead.

"There is not protest against my performances down under. There never has been. The shows are sold out. The protest is from one person... it's their version of freedom of opinion. It doesn't affect my concerts‚" he said.

The event's organisers‚ South African Events and Showmax‚ claimed they only received one concern about Steve performing in the five-city tour.

“Steve will be performing in all the shows (of the tour). We have received only one concern in regards to the event in Auckland‚ New Zealand. This was forwarded to SA Events and we answered the person. We did not receive any feedback on this from the person‚" organiser Arno Nel said.

He confirmed they cancelled a show in Wellington‚ but denied it was over protests. Instead‚ he claimed the price of venues and lack of expats in the area were the main factors in the decision.

"We always plan to include smaller cities such as Adelaide‚ Wellington and Gladstone (in our tour). Unfortunately‚ we are not always able to do these events in all the cities. Wellington is always difficult given the cost of venues and a smaller number of expats‚" he said.

Arno said organisers have cancelled at least four shows over the last 10 years in the city.