South Africa’s Shimmy Beach Club canceled a previously scheduled performance of Congolese Rhumba musician and convicted rapist, Kofi Olomide, following a large public outcry, demanding that the artist be banned from performing in the country.
The Rhumba maestro was slated to perform at the venue on June 30th, 2019. Shimmy Beach Club released a statement on Twitter earlier this week in response to the group known as ‘The Stop Koffi Olomide Collective’, which launched a petition against his performance.
According to OkayAfrica, ‘The Stop Koffi Olomide Collective’ has responded asking for further action to ensure the full removal of the artist from promotional posters and ticket-selling sites.
Koffi Olomide, real name Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba, was set to perform in South Africa at the end of this month in both Johannesburg and Cape Town before the petition to prevent him from performing was circulated on the basis of his criminal track record with women especially.
Recently, the Congolese artist was convicted of the statutory rape of one of his former dancers, who was 15-years-old at the time, and given a two-year suspended sentence by a French court, The Sauce reported.
Olomide has a long history of run-ins with the law. In 2018, he was arrested in Zambia after he allegedly assaulted a photographer. Two years prior to that, Olomide was arrested and deported by Kenyan authorities after he allegedly assaulted one of his dancers and in 2012, he was given a 3-month suspended sentence after assaulting his producer.
