'Africans Unite' concert cancelled after Burna Boy withdraws

Burna Boy at the 2019 BET Awards. Picture: Reuters

Burna Boy at the 2019 BET Awards. Picture: Reuters

Published Nov 20, 2019

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It looks like Burna Boy won't be performing in Mzansi.

Following extensive engagement with Burna Boy’s management team, Phambili Media and Play Network have decided to withdraw Burna Boy from the "Africans Unite" concert. 

As a result, both legs of the concert which were set to take place on the November 23 at Hillcrest Quarry, Cape Town and  November 24 at Sun Arena, Pretoria have now been cancelled.

According to a statement from Phambili Media, 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 statement said.

It further said, "We do, however, stand behind our decision for the initial inclusion of Burna Boy in the Africans Unite Concert line-up. As one of 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". 

Phambili Media also said that as organisers of the Africans Unite Concert, they will continue to advocate for unity and peace. Moreover, they condemn any form of discrimination, violence or aggressive behaviour towards any person due to their gender or nationality.

Anyone who bought tickets through the Computicket website and has not yet collected their tickets can contact the call centre on 0861 916 8000 for a full refund to the card used for payment. 

Tickets bought at Computicket or Shoprite must be returned to any of the outlets for a full refund. 

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