Court victory for puppet against Steve Hofmeyr

COMEDIC puppet Chester Missing had the last laugh yesterday after a courtroom show that left legal eagles chuckling.

Afrikaner activist Dan Roodt failed in his bid to get a final protection order against Missing’s puppetmaster, comedian and satirical ventriloquist Conrad Koch, to stop him “harassing” Afrikaans musician Steve Hofmeyr.

The court battle in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court followed a Twitter war – Twar – between Missing and Hofmeyr, after the latter Tweeted “blacks were the architects of apartheid”.

Missing called Hofmeyr a racist and encouraged his sponsors to withdraw their support for him, leading to his sponsored vehicle being withdrawn.

Yesterday the first-of-its kind legal spat was often met with laughter from the lawyers and the gallery, although magistrate Naren Sewnarain seemed far from impressed at times.

Roodt, who opted not to hire a lawyer and represented himself, told the court that Missing was “obsessed” with Hofmeyr, who was “out there quite alone”.

He said the spat was a “marxist, leftist conspiracy” and that Hofmeyr was “just a concerned citizen” who had been subjected to a “vicious attack” by Koch.

Roodt denied that Hofmeyr’s apartheid tweet was racist and suggested that Hofmeyr could have been referring to Israel, and not South Africa, in the tweet.

Earlier this month, Roodt obtained an interim protection order against Koch, preventing him from harassing or contacting Hofmeyr; as well as from contacting any of his sponsors or business associates. He argued that Hofmeyr had received multiple death threats “because of Koch’s incitement”.

Yesterday, Koch had his first opportunity to respond to the allegations in court. His lawyer, Steven Budlender, said if Hofmeyr could not stand the heat, he should get out of the kitchen.

“Mr Hofmeyr must be held accountable for what he did; he can’t then, when he’s criticised, say it’s not fair,” Budlender said.

“Mr Hofmeyr is entitled to go on his racist raids but Mr Koch is also allowed to criticise those racist raids,” he added.

Dismissing Roodt’s application as “unreasonable and fictitious”, Sewnarain set aside the interim order and made a costs order against him.

Outside court, Roodt attacked Missing, who was chanting “We love Boere. Panzi racism, panzi”. Missing asked Roodt if he hated all black people or just some, to which Roodt responded: “Die boere is hier om te bly (the Boers are here to stay), you can’t defame us.”

Later, Roodt said he would study the ruling before deciding what to do next.

Hofmeyr, who was not in court, later Tweeted that he accepted the court’s decision, but this tweet was followed by another, saying: “This magistrate chose sides early on. We know. He bans Twitter and complains that we bind Koch. NOTHING about harassment. #lowexpectations”.

Koch’s attorney Dario Milo said they were “happy” with the outcome, which was a “very important victory for free speech”.

Earlier in the day, Missing tweeted “Meanwhile actual domestic violence cases are being dealt with around us. But here we are with a puppet who tweets”.