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South Africans protest Burna Boy's inclusion in upcoming concert
Juliet Ebirim
Multiple award-winning Afrobeat hitmaker, Burna Boy, has kept mum as some South African artistes under the aegis of Tshwane Collective wrote a petition to the country’s Minister of Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, kicking against his inclusion in two concerts scheduled for November 23 and 24.
The Africans Unite concerts, a response to recent xenophobia in the country is organized by Play Network Africa, based in Nigeria, in partnership with Phambili Media SA and appears to enjoy the support of South Africa’s department of arts and culture.
The concerts expected to feature Burna Boy alongside artistes such as Kwesa and Jidenna. The first concert is scheduled to hold at Hillcrest Quarry in Cape Town on 23 November, while the second concert holds at Sun Arena, Time Square in Pretoria.
The group, is said to be questioning the exclusion of local artists and Burna Boy’s invitation to perform at the concert, accusing the African Giant of inciting hatred against South Africa, in the wake of the xenophobic attacks.
“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.
“He (Burna Boy) further promised to inflict his own violence on locals before giving your government an ultimatum which you seem to have received and succumbed to,” the group reportedly said in the letter to Nathi Mthethwa, minister of art and culture.”
Meanwhile, E-Daily check yesterday, revealed that the ‘Ye’ crooner has not reacted to the protest against him on any of his social media platforms. On his Instagram page, he only made a post announcing the two concerts to his fans, and his resolve to contribute a portion of the proceeds from the concert to the victims of xenophobic attacks.
“I really hope we can all keep contributing in our own way to make the world a better and safer place for each other. Africans unite, it’s bigger than all of us,” he wrote on his Instagram page.
The protest, however, was as a result of Burna Boy’s outburst during the xenophobic attacks, where he vowed never to set foot in South Africa again. In a series of tweets in September, the hitmaker Burna was said to have urged black foreigners living in SA to defend and protect themselves against xenophobic attackers.
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