Barely 3 days to the Africans Unite Concert in South Africa, the organizers have withdrawn Burna Boy from the Concert and cancelled the concerts in Cape Town and Tshwane where he was expected to perform.
The organizers announced the new development in a media statement on Wednesday.
According to the organizers, the decision to withdraw Burna Boy from the Concerts and cancel the Cape Town and Tshwane concerts was reached after extensive engagement with Burna Boy’s management team.
The reason for the sudden cancellation of the shows is the tension that has arisen from the protests and threats of violence by a group of South African artistes under the auspices of Tshwane Entertainment Collective.
The group had vowed to boycott the show if the Nigerian Afrobeat singer was allowed to step in South Africa let alone perform at the 2-day concerts.
Read: South Africans protest against Burna Boy’s performance at the Africans Unite Concerts
“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 Africans Unite Concert organizers said.
Meanwhile, Burna Boy has remained resolute in his decision not to apologize to the aggrieved group, Tshwane Entertainment Collective for his anti-xenophobia comments.
“Demand apologies from your real enemy” Burna Boy said.
Remember the genesis of the quagmire started when Burna Boy made a tweet via his Twitter handle in which he urged Africans living in South Africa to defend themselves from the attacks during the latest xenophobic attacks in South Africa
The tweet did not go down well with some South Africans who saw it as an incitement of violence against the South African people.
Burna Boy later deleted the controversial tweet.