Steve Hofmeyr: I voted yes for the new South Africa but it was a mistake

Steve Hofmeyr, one of South Africa’s top musicians and actors, said he was disappointed with how the country has evolved since the 1994 elections.

He shared his views on the new South Africa and the political landscape during a discussion on the Newsday Podcast.

Hofmeyr is widely seen as Afrikaans entertainment royalty, with credits which include Agter Elke Man, Egoli: Place of Gold, and Dis Hoe Dit Is Met Steve.

He has acted in numerous South African films, like Treurgrond, Pretville, Platteland, No Hero, and Die Gevaar Van De Aar.

He is also one of the best-selling recording artists in South Africa, having released over 30 albums, including studio, tribute, and compilation sets.

Unlike many other successful South African actors and musicians, Hofmeyr is outspoken about political and cultural issues.

He explained that he is an inherently opinionated person who takes a deep interest in the world around him.

“I naturally track global affairs, news, and political developments rather than going through life blindly,” he said.

Another reason is that he gained a large platform right around the time the Afrikaner political view and identity became significantly diminished.

“It took me a while to get into politics, as I was not really schooled in the field. However, I keep abreast of the latest developments,” he said.

He added that he is now highly politically inclined and that it has become part of his DNA. “It comes through all my ancestry,” he said.

However, he highlighted that, despite being outspoken, he does not expect all artists and other people with large platforms to voice their opinions.

He explained that being opinionated and outspoken comes at a cost, and he has faced numerous challenges because of his views.

Steve Hofmeyr voted yes for the new South Africa

Hofmeyr said that he voted ‘yes’ in the historic 1992 referendum, which gave President F.W. de Klerk the mandate to continue negotiations to end apartheid.

“I voted ‘yes’ for the new South Africa because I grew up with people of all races and colours, especially coming from drama school,” he said.

“I wanted to share South Africa with my fellow artists, like Queenie, Arthur, Ringo, Yvonne, Steve Kekana, and Brenda Fassie.”

“From my safe cocoon of drama school, the people I mentioned were civil citizens of South Africa.”

However, within seven or eight months of his ‘yes’ vote for the new South Africa, he realised that it was a mistake.

This was not because people shouldn’t be equal, but because sovereignties should be cherished. “When you give it away, you can never get it back,” he said.

He explained that he expected a new country where people would stop differentiating by race and ignore the colour of someone’s skin.

“We were all taught not to see colour. This was called non-racism. That has changed completely,” Hofmeyr said.

“It is now called anti-racism, and you are forced to distinguish between races so that you can benefit one of them.”

He also criticised policies such as Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and the political focus on race laws in South Africa.

He said that ordinary South Africans do not care much about race. Instead, they want water, electricity, economic growth, safety, and quality education.

However, due to poor governance and corruption, service delivery has collapsed, and South Africa is now plagued by crime, potholes, and water and electricity outages.

“So, I’m very disappointed. I’m more disappointed in the new South Africa than you can imagine, partly because I voted for it,” Hofmeyr said.