Entertainment

Beyonce to lead Mandela tribute concert

Published

5 years ago

December 2, 2018

Beyonce will lead an all -star line – up that includes Ed Sheeran , Jay -Z and Usher in Johannesburg on Sunday when she performs at a concert to honour the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela.The concert is the climax of a year of events celebrating the centennial of Mandela’ s birth in 1918 , and is part of a campaign to tackle poverty , child malnutrition and boost gender equality .

This year ’ s Global Citizen Festival will be held at Johannesburg ’ s 94 , 736 -capacity FNB stadium with the concert due to begin at 1200 GMT .

Thousands of music fans , many of whom had been given free tickets in return for activism and campaigning work , began to flock to the stadium hours before the gig was due to kick off .
“ I ’ m quite excited to have Beyonce and a bunch of these top – flight artists coming to South Africa to perform . It’ s nice to get this obvious reminder of Mandela’ s values , ” said concert- goer Ano Shonhiwa , 23 , as he made his way into the venue .

Ahead of the concert Oprah Winfrey , who will co – host the event , hailed Mandela’ s “ goodness and integrity ” , describing him as her “ favourite mentor ” .

Mandela was jailed under South Africa ’ s apartheid regime. After being released in 1990 , he led the country ’ s transformation into a multi – racial democracy . He died on December 5 , 2013 , aged 95 .

Event organisers paid tribute to a rigger who died following a fall while helping to prepare the stage on Saturday .

“ The circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated , ” Global Citizen said in a statement.

( AFP )