Not since Live Aid would there have been a concert like it. Dozens of rock stars performing on Robben Island before Nelson Mandela and a global television audience to raise funds to fight HIV/Aids.
Returning South Africa’s former president to the site of his incarceration was the masterstroke which helped persuade Elton John, Bono, Bob Dylan, Dave Stewart, Sting, Queen and Shaggy to sign up to the event on 2 February.
Thousands of celebrities were expected to cram the prison island off Cape Town. Oprah Winfrey, Desmond Tutu, Richard Branson and Naomi Campbell were backing it.
Now, two weeks before showtime, it has fallen apart as a sponsor, named by Guardian sources as Deutsche Bank, pulled out. On Friday, as organisers were to announce the latest stars on board, John Samuel, chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, issued a statement: ‘The concert cannot take place since the proposed producers were not able to come to a satisfactory agreement with the foundation.’
On Saturday Mandela’s representative, Zelda La Grange, said: ‘We could have gone ahead with the concert but the image of Nelson Mandela is at stake. If you do something you must do it properly or not at all.’
Sources in Johannesburg said Deutsche Bank decided on Thursday to withdraw promised funding of about $1-million.
The concert’s New York-based publicist, KSA PR, confirmed the reason for the cancellation.
‘We feel really let down. There were a lot of people working on this for a long time and we’re reeling from the shock of it all.’
Deutsche Bank could not be reached for comment yesterday and organisers were left speculating why it was risking a PR backlash to save $1-million. One suggested it was bracing for an economic downturn in the event of war in Iraq.
La Grange said organisers would consider another attempt but South Africa yesterday lamented the lost chance to raise money and awareness for HIV/Aids. Guests were to pay $2 000 to join a select group of 3 000 on Robben Island, and 30 000 were expected to watch on screens at Cape Town’s Green Point Stadium.
Mandela has recently waded deeper into campaigning on Aids, partly compensating for the lacklustre effort of his successor Thabo Mbeki, and has an extraordinary ability to extract charitable donations from business. – Guardian Unlimited Â