Thousands of music lovers roared on Saturday in northern Johannesburg as international music stars set fire to the African leg of the round-the-clock Live Earth music concerts to highlight global warming.
The event, backed by former United States vice-president Al Gore, rocked nine major cities on all continents.
The almost sold-out Johannesburg concert began at 6pm with a performance by the South African Grammy award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir.
Other artists included Senegalese star Babaa Mal, Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo and British diva Joss Stone.
British reggae band UB40, the last performers on stage, stole the show with a slew of crowd favourites such as Kingston Town and Red Red Wine.
Echoing the warning by the artists on Friday that the visible impact of climate change on the world’s poorest continent should be a wake-up call to the rest of the world, activists called on the rich countries to put more effort and resources into addressing climate change, than funding wars.
”Though the developing countries have done least to cause climate change, we the poor are the ones suffering,” said Kumi Naidoo, secretary general of Civicus, a world alliance for civic society.
”We have a message to George Bush: ‘If you can be able to fund a war in Iraq, you can do more to help in the fight against climate change. Answer the call’,” he said.
”Amandla, awethu,” he said to a thunderous response.
Organisers said that 12 000 tickets were sold at the start of the show at the Dome, a 16 000-capacity venue in northern Johannesburg.
Other shows took place in Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hamburg, London, New York, Washington and Rio de Janeiro, where an expected audience of two billion people will tune in.
The shows were carried by about 120 television networks around the world and were also being streamed live on the internet.
”Africa why are we here?” asked Kidjo during her performance in Johannesburg.
”Our communities have a right to live. They have a right to a sustainable development. We are calling for the reduction of dangerous gases,” she added.
The performers for the African leg said on Friday that the visible impact of climate change on the world’s poorest continent should be a wake-up call to the rest of the world. ‒ Sapa-AFP