Xenophobia: S’ African artists petition minister over inclusion of Burna Boy in concert

Some musicians in South Africa under the aegis of Tshwane Collective
have sent a petition to the minister of arts and culture, kicking
against the inclusion of Burna Boy in the ‘Africa Unite’ concert
scheduled for 23 and 24 November.
The Africans Unite concerts, a response to recent xenophobia in the
country is organised 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.
It will feature, along with Burna Boy, artistes such as Kwesa and
Jidenna. The first concert will hold at Hillcrest Quarry in Cape Town
on 23 November and the second at Sun Arena, Time Square in Pretoria.
However, the Tshwane Collective questioned 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 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 said in the letter to Nathi Mthethwa,
minister of art and culture.
The department of culture has however distanced itself from the
concert and said that it’s logo had been used “erroneously” on posters
advertising the event, Times Live reported.