Protest against The Kiffness blots Kirstenbosch’s summer landscape

South African musician The Kiffness, whose real name is David Scott, is being targeted by the anti-Israel lobby in Cape Town as it attempts to coerce Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens to drop him from its popular Summer Sunset Concert line-up. 

Two protests have been held in the past two weeks, the latest on 2 December, demanding that The Kiffness be removed from its summer concerts line-up. 

The repeated demonstrations, held two weeks apart, have reiterated the bullying tactics used by the anti-Israel lobby to prevent people from performing who don’t push the popular “Israel is committing genocide” narrative. 

Protest organisers point to a number of the musician’s public social media posts as the trigger for their campaign. On 13 October 2025, Scott tweeted, “From the river to the sea, the hostages are free.” On 28 November 2024, he posted, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Dr Sooliman is a radical Islamist under the guise of a humanitarian & Gift of the Givers is the front for a far more sinister agenda.” Critics say these statements and others amount to support for far-right narratives, genocide denial in Gaza, and Islamophobic rhetoric, and that giving him a stage at a major public heritage site is therefore unacceptable. 

Protesters have accused the musician of racism, white supremacy, and Islamophobia, and said allowing him to perform would undermine the values of the public space. Palestinian Solidarity Campaign spokesperson Professor Usuf Chikte said the booking “normalises racism, supremacy, Islamophobia, and the attacks that have been directed at South Africa”. He said the artist “belongs to a growing movement in South Africa, the MAGA movement – Make Apartheid Great Again”, and referred to previous remarks by the musician as “horrible comments about the reintroduction of separation, about hatred amongst the people of South Africa, causing dissension”. He told the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), “Please, don’t allow such a person to perform at Kirstenbosch.” 

Scott responded briefly, saying, “I hope they remember to wear sunscreen and drink plenty of water, and I wish them well.” In response to public criticism over earlier social media commentary he stated, “I have never denied apartheid. I have always said it was a terrible system.” 

The South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) released a strong statement defending the musician. SAZF National Spokesperson Rolene Marks said the campaign was “an organised attempt to intimidate an artist out of working”. She said the hostility towards him went “far beyond criticism”, and that “trying to block a musician from performing because he supports the only Jewish state crosses a clear constitutional line. It is an attack on core democratic rights, not just on one artist.” 

Marks said the demand to remove him came from “a small, vocal group” attempting to “punish and silence” those with differing views. She said these groups were even willing “to cause financial damage to a local musician in order to enforce ideological conformity”, describing the behaviour as corrosive to the country’s democratic culture. She said audiences were free to make their own decisions. “The Kiffness is a gifted, proudly South African artist with a loyal, diverse audience. People are free to disagree with him. They are free not to support his music. The choice is straightforward. Don’t buy a ticket.” 

She warned of the implications of allowing activists to decide who may take the stage. “What crosses the line is targeting venues, threatening organisers, and trying to shut down his career because his views don’t match theirs,” she said. Marks described such tactics as “bullying”, and warned that they were becoming more common in cultural spaces. “Once we allow a mob to decide which artists may take the stage, everyone loses,” she said. 

Singer and television personality Heinz Winckler also voiced support for Scott. He described him as “a fellow South African, a Christian, a husband and father, and a very successful internationally acclaimed musician.” He said Scott was “under attack by some narrow minded people who hate his views on current issues in our nation”, and that these individuals were “now discriminating against him by calling for the boycott of his show at Kirstenbosch”. “He is literally under attack for writing words,” Winckler said. 

He said the campaign threatened constitutional rights. “In a nation that supposedly has the right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion, this is a serious blow to our Constitution and a very sad state of affairs. The Kiffness’s human rights are under blatant attack. And if one South African’s rights are in jeopardy, so are all of ours.” 

He encouraged South Africans to support the musician. “Go watch his show at Kirstenbosch; go listen to his music; follow him on socials; and give him a shout out.” Winckler said the musician receives death threats and faces regular scrutiny. He appealed to the public to “stand for a united and truly free South Africa”. 

The Summer Sunset Concerts remain a major feature of Cape Town’s cultural calendar, with local and international artists performing across a range of genres. SANBI has advertised the 2025/26 line-up as a celebration of connection and diversity, with the concerts held against the backdrop of Table Mountain. Scott remains on the official programme. 

With two protests now behind it and national attention growing, the dispute has moved beyond a single performance. It now reflects wider questions about freedom of expression, protest, public institutions, and the balance between political accountability and artistic independence. 

SANBI hasn’t announced any changes to the schedule. The 28 December concert remains in place. Both protests have called for SANBI to remove The Kiffness from this season’s line-up. SANBI has acknowledged correspondence about the matter, but hasn’t publicised a decision. 

The coming weeks will determine whether public pressure results in changes to the Summer Sunset Concerts or whether the performance goes ahead as planned. The outcome is likely to influence how future cultural events navigate political division and expectations in South Africa.