Some South African artistes and showbiz personalities have called for a boycott of ‘Africa Unite’ concert because of Burna Boy’s inclusion.
The concert is billed to hold on November 29 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Burna Boy and South African artiste, Kwesta, are billed to headline the two-day concert.
Said to be powered by Channel O, Africans Unite is a collaborative project which aims to rebuild trust and respect by changing the current narrative about the continent.
Burna Boy found himself embroiled in the social media reactions against the xenophobic attacks when he made a bold statement about never setting foot in South Africa again until its government acts against the attacks.
According to the event organisers, Burna Boy said he is now determined to lead the conversation towards reconciliation.
Burna recently tweeted that the proceeds from the concert will be donated to victims of the xenophobic attacks.
His tweet read, “The first of many! Part of the proceeds will be donated to the victims of Xenophobic attacks by me! I really hope we can all keep contributing in our own way to make the world a better and safer place for each other. # Africansunite, it’s bigger than all of us now”.
Now, Tshwane Entertainment Collective (TEC), a South African group of showbiz experts, has objected to the inclusion of Burna Boy, Nigerian singer, in the ‘Africa Unite’ concert.
The Tshwane Entertainment Collective has written to the Arts and Culture Minister to object his inclusion.
But ahead of the D-day, TEC petitioned Nathi Mthethwa, Minister of the department, airing its grievances about the concert, and calling the department to withdraw its sponsorship from the event.
The group objected to the inclusion of Burna Boy in the show, questioned the exclusion of artists and event organizers from Tshwane, and complained of the lack of financial support for artists from the area.
“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 (Burna Boy) spread falsehoods through his extensive platform, he literally incited violence and hate,” the letter read.
Responding to the letter, the department refuted claims that it sponsored the concert. It also stated that its logo had only been used “erroneously” on posters advertising the event.
“The Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture wishes to dispel the untrue information that it is funding the Africans Unite Concert featuring the artist known as Burna Boy. It is unfortunate that the department’s logo was erroneously used on the poster advertising the event,” said Asanda Magaqa, its spokesperson.
“The department wishes to reiterate that it has not allocated or granted any funding to the event in question and any reports to the contrary are entirely false.”
Burna Boy’s management is yet to respond to inquiries by PREMIUM TIMES on the issue.
