Dylan Bettencourt
The SABC and the National Arts Council (NAC) have postponed the Arise Benefit Concert – Sisonke (We Are Together), which was due to take place later this month.
The concert, which aimed to raise R10 million for flood victims in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, has been postponed after sponsors requested a delay.
The SABC and the NAC released a joint statement to also celebrate the interest shown by the “corporate sector” wanting to be part of the “biggest benefit concert to be staged in Africa”.
But the unnamed new sponsors from the corporate world are the reason the concert has been postponed.
“The sponsors have requested a postponement of the Benefit Concert, so as to maximise a return on investment,” said the concert organisers.
“This decision has been reached in the best interests of maximising the impact of our bold campaign to stage an extraordinary Benefit Concert that has never been done before,” added the NAC member of council, Dr Sipho Sithole.
While the new date will only be announced later this month, tickets have been made available for purchase at Ticket Pro for R100 (Stands), R150 (Stadium Pitch) and R200 (Golden Circle).
Ticket holders will be able to move between two stages, at Moses Mabhida Stadium and People’s Park.
Meanwhile, around 5,000 people who lost their homes in the floods are still living in community halls and churches, because officials have failed to access the R1 billion set aside by the government two months ago.
