The Good Party has now joined Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) and women’s rights activists in demanding that global singer Chris Brown be prevented from performing in the country.
Last month 35-year-old Brown announced on his social media that he is heading to South Africa and will be performing at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg in December. Following the announcement, eager fans sold out tickets in record time which led to the singer a second concert date in the city of gold.
This has sparked outrage amongst GBVF activists, with advocacy group Women for Change starting a petition to #mutechrisbrown on the 2nd of October. The petition, which is addressed to Home Affairs Minister Leon Schrieber to deny the singer’s visa application, has already racked up over 37,000 signatures.
“Given the South African GBVF pandemic, we cannot separate the art from the artist.”
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“This country cannot afford to normalize or platform a known abuser.”
On Wednesday, the singer responded to activists petitioning for the cancellation of his upcoming concert by commenting on a Women For Change post on social. In the video posted on Instagram, local Tiktok influencer Darren Campher explained why the #mutechrisbrown petition was launched. Brown commented “Can’t wait to come ❤️” under the post.
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Calls to prevent the singer’s concerts come after he pleaded guilty to one count of felony assault after abusing his former girlfriend and fellow musician, Rihanna in 2009. While in 2017, a judge granted ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran a restraining order following threats of violence. The singer also faced multiple other allegations of abuse.
In a statement, the party noted the most recent Crime Statistics recorded between April 2024 to June 2024, which showed a year-on-year increase in contact crimes against women. 966 women were murdered in the 3 months and over 13,000 cases of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm were reported.
Brown’s performance is scheduled just days after the country observes 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children.
“The fight against GBVF is not just big bold actions taken by government but rather a collection of the daily decisions taken by ordinary citizens.”
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