The Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens is facing overwhelming pressure to cancel The Kiffness’s upcoming show at the Summer Sunset Concerts next month.
This comes amid the popular Cape Town musician’s recent controversial tweets on topics like race, religion, and Apartheid.
The quirky artist – real name David Scott – is known for sampling sounds of cats, children, and politicians in his music.
He has over three million YouTube subscribers, with some of his videos garnering almost 100 million views.
CALLS FOR KIRSTENBOSCH GARDENS TO CANCEL THE KIFFNESS SHOW
The Kiffness is billed as one of the artists set to perform at Kirstenbosch’s Summer Sunset Concerts. He is expected to perform on 28 December.
However, the botanical gardens, which fall under the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), have faced mounting pressure for them to pull the plug on his show. This relates to several X posts by The Kiffness in recent weeks.
Former DA MP Phumzille van Damme posted on her X account: “Was looking forward to my annual tradition of Kirstenbosch Summer Concerts. I see a slot given to a known racist, bigot and Islamophobe, like tolerance for diversity isn’t a key SA value.
“SA isn’t lacking in musicians. I’ll keep my coins”.
Musician Dani Bagel – who once dated Trevor Noah – social justice activist Darren Campher, and comedian Riaad Moosa also called on Kirstenbosch to take action.
As did others.
Last week, activists from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Mothers4Gaza staged a protest at Kirstenbosch Gardens against The Kiffness’ concert.
PSC’s Usuf Chikte told Elitsha News of the artist: “A racist and Islamophobe in terms of the comments he has been making, he belongs to a growing movement in South Africa, the MAGA movement, Make Apartheid Great Again. He has made horrible comments about the reintroduction of separation, about hatred amongst the people of South Africa, causing dissension”.
Chikte added: “We are telling SANBI, please, don’t allow such a person to perform at Kirstenbosch because you normalise racism, supremacy, Islamophobia and the attacks that have been directed at South Africa”.
The South African has contacted both Kirstenbosch Gardens for comment. None has been received at the time of publishing.
The Kiffness responded to the backlash by telling The South African, in writing: “I’m looking forward to performing at Kirstenbosch on the 28th of December”, add a ticket link to the response.
‘ONLINE TROLLS’
While calls mount for The Kiffness’s Kirstenbosch Gardens show to be axed, fans of the muso have defended him.
The South African Zionist Federation endorsed the show, posting on X: “A few online trolls are trying to dim the vibe, but South Africans know a good thing when they see it.
“The Kiffness is proudly South African, wildly talented, and guaranteed to light up Kirstenbosch”.
WHAT DID THE KIFFNESS TWEET?
The Kiffness is famed for his eccentric music, and his controversial views.
His recent X posts have been accused of promoting Islamophobia and being hailed as an “Apartheid apologist”.
The Kiffness has been critical of the views of former DIRCO minister Naldedi Pandor, Gift of the Givers CEO Imtiaz Sooliman, former South African ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rassol, whom he claimed “do the [Muslim] community no favours”.
South Africa’s Muslim community is overwhelmingly moderate, decent, and hard-working. True salt of the earth people. Unfortunately, high-profile figures like Ebrahim Rasool, Naledi Pandor, and Imtiaz Sooliman do that community no favours with their actions and statements.
— The Kiffness (@TheKiffness) November 23, 2025
If you want to be free, you must understand that no one is born with equal ability. If you want everyone to be equal, you must understand that you’ll never truly be free.
The only equality worth pursuing is equality before the law. All other forms of “equality” must be…
— The Kiffness (@TheKiffness) October 24, 2025
