Women for Change, an organisation that advocates for the rights of women and children in South Africa, has started a petition\u00a0 to stop the US artist from performing.<\/p>\n
It currently has over 20,000 signatures.<\/p>\n
When the tickets for the Chris Brown concert first became available, tickets to the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg with over 94,000 seats, sold out in less than two hours.<\/p>\n
Due to demand, a second date was added.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the BBC, Sabina Walter, Excutive Director for Women for Change said: \u201cWhen I saw the news that Chris Brown was coming to South Africa, I was shocked and deeply disappointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe petition was started to send a strong message that we will not tolerate the celebration of individuals with a history of violence against women,\u201d said Ms Walter, especially in a country like South Africa.<\/p>\n
South Africa has one of the highest rates of femicide and gender-based violence in the world.<\/p>\n
A rape is reported in the country roughly every 12 minutes and it is assumed that many more go unrecorded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen someone like Chris Brown is given a platform in a country where GBV is at crisis levels, it sends a damaging message \u2013 that fame and power outweigh accountability,\u201d said Ms Walters.<\/p>\n
The most well-known instance in Chris Brown\u2019s history of abuse is the domestic dispute with singer Rihanna in 2009.<\/p>\n
Chris Brown, who was 19 at the time, pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to five years probation, community service and domestic violence counselling.<\/p>\n
Although Rihanna forgave him and the pair briefly dated again after the incident, Chris Brown has also been accused of violence by other women \u2013 and men.<\/p>\n
Women for Change says it wants to know how the Department of Home Affairs could grant \u201ca convicted abuser\u201d a visa.<\/p>\n
For Ms Walter, the decision is \u201cconcerning and indicative of a systemic failure\u201d.<\/p>\n
According to South African law, having a previous conviction can result in a visa being denied.<\/p>\n
But there can be an exception for \u201cgood cause\u201d and those are cleared by the Director General of the Department of Home Affairs.<\/p>\n
Chris Brown has previously been banned from entering other countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, although he has subsequently gone on to play in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.<\/p>\n
But his South African fans are undeterred.<\/p>\n
Former University of Cape Town vice-chancellor Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng shared on X that she would be attending the Chris Brown concert.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am totally against GBV and condemn it. I believe that those who perpetrate GBV should face the full might of the law without exceptions or leniency.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut let me be clear, just in case the message didn\u2019t sit well: I am going to attend Brown\u2019s concert if he comes. These two things are not mutually exclusive.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo suggest that enjoying a concert aligns you with every past action of the artist is, at best, simplistic and, at worst, intellectually dishonest,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Prof Phakeng explained that \u201cmusic is bigger than the individual\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added that boycotting Chris Brown\u2019s concert wouldn\u2019t end GBV in South Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cAttending the concert does not magically erase our moral stance on GBV.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although this is not Chris Brown\u2019s first concert in South Africa, there is huge excitement among his fans.<\/p>\n
One said on X: \u201cChris Brown coming to South Africa??\u2026 I\u2019ll take a loan for a meet & greet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChris Brown you don\u2019t know us yet\u2026 but my wife and I will be those two microscopic fans in the stands singing and dancing to every jam!!!!\u201d said another.<\/p>\n
Ms Waters said she had even received threats because of her campaign against the US star.<\/p>\n
\u201cSupporters of Chris Brown seem ready to defend him at any cost,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe criticism we are facing for our petition speaks volumes and actually reveals a deep disconnect in how we, as a society, view violence against women.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that too often people were willing to \u201cexcuse abusive\u201d behaviour when it comes to celebrities they admire.<\/p>\n
Selective outrage is dangerous because it perpetuates the rape culture and high levels of violence women face every day, said Ms Walters.<\/p>\n
The two concerts are set for December 12 and 14.<\/p>\n
The post Petition against Chris Brown\u2019s SA concert gets 20,000 signatures\u00a0<\/a> first appeared on KBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post Petition against Chris Brown\u2019s SA concert gets 20,000 signatures\u00a0<\/a> appeared first on KBC<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Women for Change, an organisation that advocates for the rights of women and children in South Africa, has started a petition\u00a0 to stop the US artist from performing. It currently has over 20,000 signatures. When the tickets for the Chris Brown concert first became available, tickets to the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg with over 94,000 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}