South African concert cancelled over Burna Boy

Phambili Media and Play Network have decided to withdraw Burna Boy from the “Africans Unite” concert. 
Burna Boy and musician has been involved in bitter exchange over Burna’s tweet following the Xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa where Burna had threatened AKA who seem to suggested Nigerians to leave South Africa in a series of tweets.

But 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.

The statement reads in parts, “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 added.

The statement continued, “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.