SA HEAVYWEIGHTS TURN DOWN LOCAL GIGS

MBABANE- – Great concern.

Promoters have raised their concern over the current political tension in Eswatini, which has resulted in some artists turning down event offers.
As the festive season is upon us, most fun lovers are anticipating a serious fun-filled season, but given the current political state, it seems to be a distant dream. Various event promoters have revealed that they have cancelled events they anticipated to host this festive season, because of international artists who are flagged by the political uncertainty in the kingdom. DJ Speedsta, Yung Swiss, Gigi, and Nasty C are among the South African artists who were supposed to come to the kingdom over the festive season, but have allegedly turned down offers because of the security uncertainty in Eswatini.

Tension

The kingdom has been going through political tension from June 2021. The immediate alleged cause of the protests was when three pro-democracy Members of Parliament (MPs) advocated for the introduction of a more democratic system. In addition, the death of a university student under mysterious circumstances in May led to suspicions that the police had allegedly killed him. Subsequent protests at that time, which were supported by opposition legislators also led to a state of preexisting tension. The first protests took place on  June 20, when the youth in the Manzini Region went through a village shouting political slogans and calling for the right to a democratically chosen prime minister.  They blocked roads and set tires on fire. Police reacted to these demonstrations by deploying stun grenades and firing live bullets, leading to protesters retaliating by throwing stones and the likes.

The protests spread and escalated into violence on June 25, in most towns such as Msunduza township, near Mbabane, as demonstrators ‘clashed’ with police and stores were looted and torched. As thousands of people delivered petitions to tinkhundla authorities, who are democratically appointed in a ‘devolved’ system, the government stopped them from being delivered, raising controversy from the national teachers union and leading to further tension.

Attacks

The current situation has raised anxiousness among people, because of the rising arson attacks, shootings and the likes between unknown people and soldiers. This has affected many businesses even the entertainment sector. Promoters have shared that they were worried about the events they were planning, also on how they would go about calling people out of the comfort and safety of their homes to the unknown. The mentioned artists had been approached for shows in the kingdom and they chose not to respond on why they did not take the offers. An artist who chose to remain anonymous through a local event promoter shared that they as artists had various reasons for turning down the offers and why they couldn’t speak up.
“As an artist in South Africa, I’m not really invested in what is happening in other countries, until I am invited .

“We can’t walk blindly into a situation where one could essentially be unsafe and I can’t say ‘hey Eswatini your country isn’t safe’ because I would be boycotted for having an opinion that concerns me,” was a view from one of the artists. For safety reasons, all the interviewed parties won’t be revealed but are known by this publication, to avoid prejudice from the public. Most promoters mentioned how they were not going to risk people’s lives all in the name of fun, but it was something that was seriously affecting their means of income and a business that had been revived after the COVID -19 pandemic.

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