Johannesburg - “Merge into the far right lane and drive 40 years into the past – if you cross the Jukskei River, you have gone too far.”
It remains to be seen if any of these suggestions will feature on controversial Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr’s latest venture, a GPS app which reads out directions in his voice.
“AfriForum GPS, a complete GPS on your smartphone, keeping you on track with the voice of Steve Hofmeyr, all in Afrikaans!” reads the app’s description on the Google Play store.
This week, Hofmeyr took to Twitter about the app, punting the fact that it’s free.
“Afrikaans roetes & effe ongevraagde advies (Afrikaans routes and some unsolicited advice). Hehe,” he tweeted.
Most of the online store’s users gave the app a good review, except for a tongue-in-cheek critique penned by user Aubrey Kloppers.
“Do not trust this app – It gave me kids at multiple woman (sic)!!!” Kloppers wrote, referring to children Hofmeyr fathered with multiple women.
“I started using this app yesterday morning and within 24 hours, I got 14 telephone calls from ex-girlfriends telling me I am a father! Also, it took my perfect Afrikaans and English tongue and changed it to the WORST EVER accent, making me sound like a drunk rugby supporter.”
“This free app is too expensive! (I give it a 5/5 because it taught me how to hate Julias (sic) Malema instantaneously!).”
Other users rated the app highly.
“Afrikaans vir ’n Afrikaner. Dankie Steve. Steve vir president (Afrikaans for an Afrikaner, thanks Steve. Steve for president),” wrote Dawie Smit, whose profile picture is a cartoon hand in the colours of the old South African flag.
The app was created by AfriForum, a registered non-profit organisation that focuses on the rights of minorities.
“AfriForum has a specific focus on the rights of Afrikaners as a community living on the southern tip of the continent,” is how the group describes itself on their website.
The Star