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Namibia:
Radio stations ban Afrikaaner song
Two Namibian Afrikaans-language commercial radio stations have banned the South African musician Bok van Blerk's song 'De la Rey' because of the political controversy surrounding the song, reports Informanté
The song 'De la Rey' urges to re-inforce the language, culture and pride of the Afrikaaners – the descendants of the Dutch people who settled in South Africa in 1650-1900. The song about the Anglo-Boer War hero General De la Rey has stirred emotions and won awards in neighbouring South Africa, and so far two Namibian radio stations – Channel Seven and Radio Kosmos – have decided to ban the song, even though they get numerous requests from listeners to play it.
“We are not there to promote politics. As a commercial radio we will not play it because we have many cultural group listening to our stations,” Radio Kosmos managing editor, Kollie van Koller, told Informanté.
Channel Seven managing director Neal van Den Berg said to Informanté that his station has barred the song because of a narrow-minded lot who are misusing it. “We don’t want the controversy to spill over to Namibia.”
The singer and guitarist Bok van Blerk (real name: Louis Pepler) is about to perform in the Namibian capital Windhoek on 9 March 2007. Bok van Blerk’s debut album, also entitled 'De la Rey', is among South Africa’s best selling debut albums ever with more than 100,000 copies sold.
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‘De la Rey’ – topselling debut album |
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