A British musician on Monday described the gaps between the rich and the poor in South Africa as a ”vision of hell”.
Eurythmics singer Dave Stewart — who arrived in Cape Town on Monday to prepare for the 46664 Aids Awareness Concert taking place later this week — described South Africa as scary when journalists asked for his impressions of the country.
He said he is constantly told how much South Africa has changed but he feels that things are not that much better.
”People ask me if I’ve been to Cape Town … that it’s really beautiful. But there are poor communities that have hardly anything. And people are saying it is much better than before. And I think, Christ, what was it like before? The extremities are really scary … it’s like a vision of hell,” he said.
However, Stewart did express great admiration for the country’s greatest leader, Nelson Mandela.
He said he became involved in the concert and the 46664 campaign directly as a result of the feelings Mandela invoked in him.
”He gave his prison number, 46664, to the campaign and it was a way of him saying, ‘I was imprisoned all those years but now thousands of Africans are in prison too.’ How could I refuse?”
Touching on the material that he has prepared for the concert, Stewart said the song American Prayer — which he will perform with Bono — vocalises what has gone wrong with the United States.
”When an empire becomes glorious it forgets about its people. There could be a time when America wins back respect but it will not be by buying guns and missiles but by helping people in Africa and Afghanistan,” he said.
Stewart is the latest artist to arrive in the country. Brian May and Roger Taylor of rock group Queen arrived last Friday.
The concert boasts a line-up of international superstars that include the likes of Bono, Beyoncé Knowles, The Corrs and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. — Sapa