/ 7 December 2010

Anti-crime foundation Shout distances itself from Hofmeyr

The Shout Foundation on Monday distanced itself from reported comments about black people made by one of its ambassadors, Steve Hofmeyr.

The Shout Foundation on Monday distanced itself from reported comments about black people made by one of its ambassadors, Steve Hofmeyr.

Shout is an initiative started to raise awareness about crime and help South Africans become more positive about the country. Funds and donations that are raised are distributed by its board of trustees to help curb crime.

“There is no place for racial slurs or pointing of fingers based on race,” the foundation’s chairperson Gavin Koppel said in a statement.

“Crime knows no colour and does not discriminate. We are all affected.”

Hofmeyr, a popular Afrikaans musician, stirred up a racial row when he blamed the “propaganda of entitlement” among black people for the murder of a Free State family, the Sowetan reported on Monday.

Hofmeyr wrote on his Facebook page, in Afrikaans, last week that: “Blacks (God knows, probably not all of them, but most of those I observe) feel justified and “entitled” in everything, from quotas … low matric marks to land rights … brutality.

“We MUST generalise. Most black people I know are not violent, but they slurp up the PROPAGANDA OF ENTITLEMENT, [that’s] exactly what gives young killers what they need to justify their brutality,” the paper reported he wrote.

Hofmeyr was referring to the murder of Attie Potgieter, his wife Wilna and their three-year-old daughter Willemien on their farm in the Free State last week.

Koppel said Hofmeyr’s comments were “completely out of step” with what Shout stood for and the foundation would not encourage racist remarks or comments with racial undertones.

Shout had asked Hofmeyr to explain himself but the foundation was still awaiting a response.

“Once we get it, we will decide on Hofmeyr’s future as a Shout ambassador,” Koppel said. — Sapa