Burna Boy. Photo/Courtesy

South Africans celebrate as Burna Boy’s concert in Jo’burg is cancelled 

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Nigerian singer Burna Boy has a love-hate relationship with South Africans that has played out again causing his show to be cancelled.

Burna Boy’s concert in South Africa was first postponed due to low ticket sales before it was ultimately canceled.

Ticketing platform TicketPro confirmed the cancellation on Thursday, September 21, 2023, on their website, providing details about the refund process for ticket holders.

A source within the concert-planning committee told local newspaper Sunday World that the singer terminated the services of a South Africa-based sound team just days before the event.

Additionally, the show is believed to have faced challenges with attendance, as suite tickets were discounted by 25% on various online platforms.

Khanya PR and Media Solutions, the agency responsible for the show’s PR and social media management, withdrew from the event, citing business interests and legal advice as reasons for their decision.

Following allegations of misconduct and pending legal proceedings related to the concert, Ternary Media Group, responsible for producing the show, has also initiated a leadership transition. The outfit’s former head, Sedote Nwachukwu, has been relieved of his CEO responsibilities until further notice.

The South African show would have been part of Burna Boy’s African tour to promote his latest LP ‘I Told Them’.

Several South Africans took to social media to celebrate after Burna Boy’s concert was cancelled.

It’s not the first time that Burna Boy’s concert in South Africa is getting cancelled.

It’s actually a déjà vu moment for Burna Boy because exactly four years ago, in September 2019, his show also slated for December same year, was cancelled because of his comments against xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

The Nigerian singer took to social media in September to urge black foreigners living in SA to defend and protect themselves against xenophobic attacks.

Burna Boy shared several posts condemning the xenophobic attacks in South Africa, some posts were however deleted.

In a now-deleted tweet, Burna Boy also told late rapper AKA to “beef up his security”, before giving him the middle finger.

He also promised to never set foot in SA again until the government “wakes the f*ck up and really performs a miracle”. However, a month later, he was announced as part of the Africans Unite line-up to “unify all Africans and speak out against femicide”.

Burna Boy had been scheduled to appear at the ‘Africans Unite’ concerts in Cape Town and Pretoria.

The singer’s scheduled appearance was criticized and questioned by many South Africa-based artistes upset by his comments regarding the spate of xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

The two concerts that were to be headlined by Burna Boy were ultimately canceled following “increasing threats of violence”, a statement from the organisers said.

Fast forward to September 2023, South Africans celebrated after Burna Boy show was cancelled as they still hate him because of the comments he made four years ago about xenophobic attacks.

Xenophobia is still prevalent in South Africa even to date, this was highlighted by a BBC documentary that premiered on YouTube on September 18, 2023.

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