'Cooler as ekke' singer Jack Parow.
According to a press release by the Oppikoppi festival organisers, Zander Tyler (31) – better known by his stage name, Jack Parow – was detained in the early hours of Wednesday morning on charges of disturbing the peace.
But it was not made clear in the press release who detained Parow.
Tyler was apparently staying at the Vaalkop Dam with friends ahead of his Friday night performance at Oppikoppi.
Parow released a short video confirming that he was detained by "the authorities". Parow looks underfed and distressed in the detention ward, but somehow managed to keep his phone to make this video.
According to reports, Tyler and a friend took a catamaran out on a joyride on the dam at about 1.30am on Wednesday morning. After repeated requests over loud-hailers by obvious party-poopers, Parow and his accomplice finally returned to shore.
A spokesperson who was on the scene said they both co-operated and came quietly but repeatedly tried to explain to him that poor Parow had simply borrowed the boat.
The spokesperson, who wished to remain anonymous, explained to the pair a number of times that was not the reason they were in trouble – it was for public disorder and disturbing the peace.
A crowd had apparently gathered at the dam's edge and local resident Martha Pretorius said she heard loud singing and laughing over the water for at least 45 minutes before the said authorities showed up. Pretorius has been known to be a nosy verkrampte, so her testimony is hard to believe.
This reporter has tested two Parow albums using a loud-hailer and can verify that the musician's voice cannot be dismissed as noise.
Parow's performance has been postponed until further notice.
I, for one, really hope Parow still makes it to Oppikoppi. He's the freshest Afrikaans zef rapper in the world, and that's not just because he's the only one we know.