The Die Antwoord controversy, explained

For those unaware, Die Antwoord is a musical duo from South Africa who made it big in the early 2010s with their alternative hip-hop/rave style music that drew upon elements from the South African counter-culture movement known as “Zef.” Their songs charted in countries across the globe and featured in popular media including video games like Far Cry 3. The singers are Watkin Tudor “Ninja” Jones and Anri “Yolandi Visser” Du Toit and the producers are HITEK5000 and Lil2Hood.

What did Die Antwoord do?

There have been multiple accusations made against the pair, including sexual assault and homophobia. However, the most serious allegation against Jones and Du Toit comes from Gabriel “Tokkie” Du Preez, a young boy adopted by the musicians when he was just nine years old. He wasn’t the only child to be adopted; they also took his younger sister in and fostered a couple of others as well. The young boy featured in some of Die Antwoord’s music videos such as “I Fink U Freeky” and he also appeared at some of the shows.

In 2022, Du Preez, who was 20 at the time, spoke up about what he and his sister saw and experienced while living with their foster parents. Speaking with News24, he said, “They made me feel like I was actually a slave. They adopted me to be a slave. They made me feel like I wasn’t really being loved.” He revealed in the interview that they also made him record videos swearing and degrading his biological family for being poor and even made him believe that he was the devil.

This all came after a shocking 44-minute interview with Du Preez and Die Antwoord collaborator Ben Jay Crossman containing serious allegations against the musicians. Apparently, Jones and Du Toit would take him and his sister to a private clinic to have blood drawn to be used in rituals. Jones also supposedly showed Du Preez pornographic material when he was just 11 years old and Du Preez also claims that his sister was encouraged to undress and join the duo and other naked adults in the sauna. In another instance, the young boy also stabbed his older brother and was praised for doing so, with the scene later being recreated in a music video from 2019.

Deny Antwoord

Die Antwoord responded to the allegations claiming that they were not true. According to an article from The Fader, they claimed that Du Preez, Crossman and News24 conspired to fabricate the story for financial gain. Regardless, Jones and Du Toit have avoided facing much in the way of consequences for what Du Preez says they did. They even managed to avoid being canceled (or maybe they’re just ignorant to the fact that they have been) as they announced the Die Antwoord Reanimated tour this year and many of their shows are already sold out.