South Africa is gearing up to host Africa’s Live 8 concert with about 40 000 people expected to pack central Johannesburg on Saturday to raise poverty awareness on the continent.
But despite South Africa’s biggest star, Nelson Mandela, giving his official blessing to the concert, organisers would not say whether he would attend the event — and the line-up paled in comparison to the superstars drawn by other concerts around the world.
”This concert carries the endorsement of Mr Mandela as part of the wider campaign in our struggle against poverty and social injustice in the world,” said Nelson Mandela Foundation chief executive John Samuel.
Linked to the Live 8 concerts held in Europe, the United States and in Japan, the stars of the ”Africa Standing Tall Against Poverty” concert will hook up via satellite with other shows in Berlin, London, Paris, Philadelphia, Rome and Tokyo, organisers said.
Local artists said they would not only help send a message to the Group of Eight (G8) leaders meeting in Scotland next week but hope to raise their profiles by taking part in the global musical extravaganza.
”This event means a lot to us,” said South African band Bayete’s Jabu Khanyile.
”It will also give us a chance to paint a picture of the continent,” he told the press conference.
Millions are expected to watch the concerts live on television worldwide as part of the music world’s bid to pressure leaders of the G8 group of industrialised nations to strike a deal on debt, aid and trade for Africa at their two-day summit opening on Wednesday.
”This is without doubt a moment in history where ordinary people can grasp the chance to achieve something truly monumental and demand from the eight world leaders at the G8 an end to poverty,” said Bob Geldof, the veteran rocker-turned-campaigner behind Live 8: The Long Walk to Justice.
The Johannesburg concert to be held outside on a downtown square is co-funded and organised by local South African non-governmental organisations, Action Aid International and Oxfam, with some help from businesses.
Live 8-Johannesburg will be broadcast to 36 countries on the continent.
The line-up however is mainly comprising South African stars including reggae king Lucky Dube, kwaito star Zola and bands such as Bayete and the Mahotella Queens, with only one band, Senegal’s Orchestre Baobab and diva Oumou Sangare from Mali representing the rest of the continent.
In comparison, the Hyde Park concert in London will see the likes of Annie Lennox, Coldplay, Dido, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Sting, Snoop Dogg, The Who, U2, REM and a special reunion of psychedelic rockers Pink Floyd among others.
In Paris, Youssou N’Dour, Jamiroquai, Placebo and Johnny Hallyday are scheduled to take to the stage, while the Philadelphia concert will see the likes of Bon Jovi, The Dave Matthews Band, Destiny’s Child, Linkin Park, Maroon 5, Stevie Wonder and
P-Diddy play to the crowds.
Organiser Hassen Lorgat said talks are still under way to try to draw other artists, but many of the continent’s superstars including Benin’s Angelique Kidjo and Zimbabwe’s Oliver Mtukudzi have indicated that they had commitments elsewhere.
The concert in Johannesburg appears to have been organised as an afterthought when the London gig came under criticism for being Euro-centric, with few African artists in the lineup. – Sapa-AFP