Hofmeyr says he can pay for his own air ticket to visit Trump

Afrikaans musician and activist Steve Hofmeyr said in an interview on Tuesday that raising funds to go and meet with US president Donald Trump has never been the main problem or issue for him.

It’s getting the invitation in the first place that’s proving to be the biggest hurdle.

In an interview with Netwerk24, also reported on by News24, Hofmeyr was quoted as saying: “Fundraising is not the problem. I get up to R100 000 offers per day. The diplomatic red tape is more problematic, and tweets to Ivanka (Trump’s daughter) do not help.”

He was referring to the fact that a man named John-Dex Rudman had been driving a campaign for Hofmeyr to take the plight of Afrikaners to the White House. They believe they are being targeted in South Africa in a genocidal campaign, particularly in rural areas where they own farms, and believe the Republican president might be able to do something to help them.

Rudman was sending tweets directly to Ivanka Trump, but it seems he did not get her to bite. His Kommando Support Project said it had been trying to raise at least R100 000 to send Hofmeyr and farmers’ rights activist Henk van de Graaf to Washington DC.

Their aim was to persuade Trump that “white genocide” is real in South Africa and to place sanctions on the ANC government.

The project also launched a petition asking Trump to give white people in South Africa their independence. They claim white people and the Khoi-San “are the original Natives of South Africa”. They also claim that, among other places, the Western Cape and Northern Cape is “our land”.

Hofmeyr withdrew from the group this week after Boere Krisis Aksie alleged Rudman had a criminal history and his collection of funds was a scam. Rudman has, however, denied this, saying he could prove his intentions towards Hofmeyr were honourable.

The singer was initially willing to give Rudman the benefit of the doubt, but “when Kommandosorg placed a picture of my farm on a poster as the leader of a new Republican party of which I know nothing, it was too much for me”.

Hofmeyr added on Facebook, however, that “the [meet Trump] campaign is still a great project that would have worked better with all the role-players’ co-operation.”

Trump has in the past tweeted: “I really like Nelson Mandela but South Africa is a crime ridden mess that is just waiting to explode – not a good situation for the people!”

He also wrote: “As I have long been saying, South Africa is a total – and very dangerous – mess.”

Trump and President Jacob Zuma spoke by telephone this week, though nothing about “white genocide” was raised.