A handful of South African entertainers together with event house Tshwane Entertainment Collective have issued a petition to the South African Minister of Arts and Culture to cancel out Burna Boy’s inclusion in the anti-xenophobic concert ‘Africans Unite’, slated for November 23 -24, 2019.
The call by the entertainers and event house is powered by the African Giant’s internet comments he passed in September during the xenophobic attacks that took place in South Africa. According to them, the comments not only caused huge stir on social media, but also incited the ‘On Low’ hit maker’s hate for South Africa.
A smidgen of the letter reads, “Whoever may have deemed that the country needs a PR exercise of this nature would have done so largely as a result of the callous, misleading and unwarranted incitement by this very artist. Not only did he spread falsehoods through his extensive platform, he literally incited violence and hate.”
The said concert is expected to bridge the gap between South Africa and the rest of the African continent in response to the recent xenophobia attacks. Aside Burna Boy’s exclusion demand, Play Network Africa based in Nigeria, the event house organizing the concert in partnership with Phambili Media SA and the Ministry of Arts and Culture, are accused for sidelining artists in the area where the attack took place from performing and also for staging the event in areas far from where the victims are situated.
Hillcrest Quarry in Cape Town will host the 23 November edition and the Sun Arena, Time Square in Pretoria will host the 24th November edition. Kwesa and Jidenna are confirmed to perform.
