Chris Brown sold more than 94,000 tickets to his forthcoming concert in South Africa, but there has also been criticism by women’s rights campaigners of his visit to a country that has one of the highest rates of femicide and gender-based violence in the world.
The BBC reports that Women for Change, an advocacy group in the country, has started a petition to stop Brown from performing. It has so far reached 20,000 signatures.
It quotes the executive director Sabina Walter saying: “When I saw the news that Chris Brown was coming to South Africa, I was shocked and deeply disappointed.
“The petition was started to send a strong message that we will not tolerate the celebration of individuals with a history of violence against women. When someone like Chris Brown is given a platform in a country where GBV is at crisis levels, it sends a damaging message – that fame and power outweigh accountability.”
Brown has a history of facing allegations of violence against women. In 2009, he pleaded guilty to assault of his then-girlfriend Rihanna following a dispute on the way to the Grammy Awards. At the time he was sentenced to five years probation, community service and counselling. He has previously been banned from entering other countries, including the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
