[imagesource:facebook/nataniel]

South Africans icon, Nataniël, has been forced to apologise over ‘racist’ remarks he made towards Chinese people during his ‘Prima Donna’ show at Montecasino last week.

According to News24, the singer and artist says he understands that people “want to hang him in a tree” and condemn him for his statements about the Chinese.

Among other things, he said on stage that the Chinese are “terrible” people who eat dogs and kill Muslims. He also said that China supports Russia in the latter country’s war against Ukraine.

“Crucify me by all means. But just know my intention is not to generalise. Of course, I have faults and if I have given offence I am sorry.” he said in a statement.

During the show, Nataniël told the audience that he and Charl du Plessis, his pianist, had been working together for more than two decades and that Du Plessis presents master classes and concerts around the world, including in China, as a brand ambassador for Steinhoff pianos. It was then that Nataniel went on to talk about the culinary habits.

“You always have to look underneath products and, if you see they are made in China, you have to put them back on the shelf,” he said and pretended to spit.

Francis LaiHong, vice-chairperson of The Chinese Association in Johannesburg, says Nataniël’s statements are offensive and racist.

“Nataniël’s obvious hatred for Chinese people, and the way he communicated his thoughts and feelings make him a real racist. He cannot make such statements because it is hate speech and unfair discrimination. Since he made his statements publicly, we expect him to have the courage to apologise publicly.”

Nataniël however denies that he is racist, saying “I am at peace with any country in the world. I live in my head in a landless planet where everyone is the same. Everyone knows that.”

The artist says that after 37 years on stage, he hopes that “people know where my heart is and what my priorities are. There is not a Chinese person on earth with whom I have a problem. But I do have a problem with the Chinese government. The Chinese government fills me with fear as much as any other government on earth.”

“I may have expressed it incorrectly in Afrikaans. Everyone who knows my work knows that I come from a place of incredible love for the planet, for children and for people. When I talk about institutions and governments that are guilty of doing the worst things to a planet, I probably word it wrongly sometimes.”

Nataniël says he often makes comments about cultures and customs, “What I said [about the Chinese] is not completely unfounded. It is in their history. If you read a Chinese book about food culture, you will see that they eat dogs. And there are also questions all over the world about what happens to these people [Muslims] who are kept in camps, and no one can get answers.”

He went further to say that he believes comedy is being “taken out of context.”

“It’s horrendous. I think the day when you see what a stand-up comedian’s speech looks like on paper, it is one of the worst things on earth, but it is not malicious or hateful or anything like that.”

[source:news24]