Award-winning Afrobeats star Burna Boy is scheduled to headline a concert in South Africa, just two months after he vowed never to return to the country following a spate of xenophobic attacks there.
Courtesy: ReutersNG
He’s among several artists performing at the event which will mark his return to South Africa for the first time since 2017.
The concert billed as “Africans Unite” takes place on November 23.
Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage and other major Nigerian stars canceled appearances in the country in response to xenophobic attacks on foreigners. In many cases, Nigerians were the targets.
While the news of Burna’s upcoming show has been met with mostly positive responses from both Nigerians and South Africans online, several South African artists say they do not want to share a stage with him.
The Tshwane Entertainment Collective has written to the Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa to object his inclusion at the anti-xenophobic concert.
In the letter penned to the minister, the group raised a number of concerns including the lack of financial support for artists from the area and the inclusion of Burna Boy in the line-up.
The Collective’s concern is partly fueled by a now-deleted tweet from Burna in which he called for a boycott of South Africa because of xenophobia and said he would never set foot in the country again unless the government “wakes the f**k up and really performs a miracle”.
Burna also took a jab at South African rapper AKA, telling him to “beef up his security” before giving him the middle finger.
AKA and others are demanding Burna Boy apologize. Some have threatened to boycott the Africans Unite event.
