The South African singer Tyla canceled a performance in Nigeria after protests. The amapiano star Musa Keys, also South African, was removed from a festival lineup in Zimbabwe. And Salif Keïta, a revered musician from Mali, canceled a show in South Africa over what he called “xenophobic violence.”
As anti-immigrant fervor swells across South Africa, artists and fans are beginning to speak out, demanding that the country address the wave of threats and violence that has caused thousands of people to flee the continent’s largest economy.
African heads of state have condemned South Africa and called on the African Union to hold the country accountable. Nigeria is demanding that South Africa compensate citizens who fled their homes and were repatriated. South Africa recently lost an important continentwide leadership role dealing with telecommunications, and some say it was because of the country’s damaged diplomatic standing.
And now the country’s musicians and entertainers are facing backlash, too.
“It’s about coming together as a people and saying, ‘No, we have a voice, and that voice matters,’” said Solomon Buchi, a Nigerian writer and commentator who was among those who took to social media to protest the Tyla concert in Lagos.
Gayton McKenzie, the South African government minister overseeing arts and culture, rejected the idea that South Africans were xenophobic and that the country’s artists should be blamed. The South African government says it targets illegal immigration and is focused on protecting the country’s borders.
“Enforcing immigration law is not xenophobia,” said Mr. McKenzie, who campaigned largely on an anti-immigration platform and who helped popularize the slogan “Abahambe” (meaning “let them go” in Zulu), which is chanted at many anti-immigrant protests.
The wave of anti-immigrant sentiment that has swept across the country includes vigilante groups raiding immigrant communities and taking it upon themselves to kick them out of the country.
The violence and heated rhetoric have made many foreigners leave South Africa. At least 86,000 foreign nationals have been deported or repatriated from mid-June to late August, according to the South African government.
Mr. Keïta, the Malian artist, said in a Facebook post that he could not “ignore the reports of xenophobic violence against our African brothers and sisters.” His manager, Carolina Vallejo, confirmed his decision.
Mr. Keïta, 77, has been a mainstay of South African jazz and cultural festivals. His ties to South Africa stretch back decades, including a performance at the Nelson Mandela 70th birthday tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in 1988, an event linked to the international anti-apartheid movement.
He stressed that his decision not to perform in South Africa was not a rejection of South Africans. “To be clear — I am not closing the door on South Africa,” he wrote. “I am closing the door on violence.”
Tyla, a Grammy Award winner, has built a significant following in Nigeria and has worked with some of the country’s biggest stars, including Ayra Starr, Tems and Wizkid. But Nigerians criticized her scheduled appearance in Lagos, accusing her of staying silent instead of using her platform to condemn the anti-immigrant attacks.
Tyla has not publicly commented on why her Lagos concert was canceled, and her representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Blessing Jake spent months organizing a music festival in Zimbabwe when, in July, he began seeing social media posts with people threatening to boycott the event if South African artists were not removed from the lineup.
The Buddie Beats Concert was scheduled to take place at Victoria Falls, and Mr. Jake had worked for months to secure the concert’s biggest acts, including Mafikizolo, a South African band.
In the end, Mr. Jake removed Mafikizolo from the bill. He said he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result. Mr. Jake said he hoped the negative climate around South African artists could be resolved quickly.
“Business-wise,” he said, “xenophobia is very expensive.”
The post Music Stars Are Dragged Into South Africa’s Immigration Controversy appeared first on New York Times.
