Photo credit: Taken via Burna Boy’s Instagram page.
With constant threats from the public and without any reaction from the South African government to calm the dust, the concert organized by Phambili Media and Play Network Africa could not proceed and had to be cancelled. In a statement from the organizers, they said,
The decision to cancel the Africans Unite Concert comes after the call from the Tshwane Entertainment Collective to boycott the Africans Unite concert in Tshwane. 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 organizers insist that they still stand behind their decision to include Burna Boy in the lineup.
As one of the artists at the center 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.” On a rather melancholic note, they end off by saying, “It seems we have failed in this regard.” They added.
