EFF: Bonang, others must boycott criminal Gupta event

“We call on Bonang Matheba, Somizi Mhlongo, Robert Marawa, Big Nuz... to withdraw,” says EFF ahead of the South African of the Year Awards.

The South African of the Year Awards announced on Monday that Jennifer Lopez will join US star Robin Thicke on the line-up - and the EFF are ticked off.

In a lengthy statement the political party is calling for celebs, including nominees from across Africa, to boycott the event.

It reads:

The EFF notes that the criminal syndicate of the Guptas are still trying to legitimise their criminal activities in South Africa by hosting a seemingly innocent award ceremony celebrating achieved South Africans. We believe this criminal syndicate has no moral ground on which to host such an event when on the other hand they're stealing billions from the coffers of the country.

We call on all South Africans and Africans in general who have been nominated or are participating in this criminal event in one form or another to withdraw their participation with immediate effect. In the spirit of great artists of our time like Hugh Masekela, Letta Mbulu, Caiphus Semenya, Zakes Mokae, John Morapama and Merriam Makeba who boycotted the Apartheid regime and actively contributed to the struggle that eventually led to the political emancipation in 1994.

We encourage artists to boycott this event in the interest of their own country. The event is ANN7 funded and ANN7 is run by the criminal Gupta family. This family is actively stealing billions from the country transferring it back to their place of birth India. This is money that could fund education and the Arts in general. They are also in the battle to capture the National Treasury which we know they will steal from as they have done in everything they've been involved in.

Participating in their events would be legitimising a criminal entity and in fact being morally accomplice to their criminal activities. We fully support the default notion that artists must be supported and be allowed to participate in all facets of society. However, in the example and spirit of conscientious artists who came before us, a line must be drawn at which artists must become activists who contribute positively to their country. ANN7 is money-laundering scheme cooked up by a criminal syndicate who care only about themselves.

We call on Bonang Matheba, Somizi Mhlongo, Robert Marawa, Big Nuz and many others to show leadership in a time when the arts and culture space is lacking it and symbolically withdraw their participation from this criminal event. Besides, ANN7 is not even a credible TV Station. Attaching their brand to the likes of Bonang and others boosts their image, but it does the opposite for our well-respected and hard working artists. We pray to the conscience of these artiste-extraordinaire to recognise the significance of their decisive action against this criminal syndicate and how it could change the discourse in society.

The Guptas have no moral ground to tell us who the South African of the Year is when they have clearly shown the disrespect and disdain they have for this our beloved country. And to our fellow artists, South Africa is looking to you for leadership in this matter.

IOL