If you’d purchased a ticket for anti-xenophobia concert, you should expect your refund — as you probably know by now, the event has been cancelled.
The cancellation follows the withdrawal of Nigerian superstar Burna Boy who was scheduled to headline the show by organisers following an outcry.
The event, Africans Unite, was the brainchild of Phambili media.
Why he won’t come
In a statement, the organisers said the decision to cancel the concert came after the call from the Tshwane Entertainment Collective to boycott the event which would also stop at Tshwane on 24 November — with another leg in Cape Town the day before (23 November).
“With the increasing threats of violence from other unfortunate segments of the public and without any government intervention, Phambili Media and Play Network Africa were prompted to take the threats and warnings seriously, as the safety of all artists and attendees could not be guaranteed. We then decided to cancel the concert.
“The safety of all attendees, artists and crew comes first”, the statement read in part.
Where it all started:
Following clashes in September between South Africans and foreign nationals in Gauteng, Burna Boy tweeted that he would never set foot in the country if the government “wakes up” and intervenes.
At the time, a twar ensued between him and South African rapper, AKA.
But with the then imminent arrival of Burna in the country, AKA said he was willing to let bygones be.
Read: Is AKA a hypocrite for his ‘fake’ truce offer
“I ain’t sorry”
Following numerous calls for him to apologise for his tweets, Burna Boy responded.
But his was not a response people expected — on Saturday, he said those who had problems with him coming to South Africa should make peace as he would come whether or not they liked it.
Also Read: Burna boy ain’t sorry for those Xenophobia tweets — ‘you’ll have to kill me to stop me’
And now we’re here:
BET Award winner, Sho Madjozi has lambasted the organisers of the show and revealed that she was approached to perform but had refused.
But maintain their position; “We do, however, stand behind our decision for the initial inclusion of Burna Boy in the Africans Unite Concert line-up,” the statement from organisers said.
“As one of the artists at the centre stage of the xenophobic attacks uproar, we saw fit to engage him to be a part of the Africans Unite campaign that aims to ultimately change the current negative narrative to that of solidarity and unity. It seems we have failed in this regard.