Koffi Olomide's Show In South Africa Has Been Cancelled

UPDATE 06/18: South Africa's Shimmy Beach Club has cancelled the previously schedule performance of Congolese rhumba musician and convicted rapist, Kofi Olomide, following a large public outcry, demanding that the artist be stopped from performing in the country.

He was slated to perform at the venue on June 30. Shimmy Beach Club released a statement on Twitter on Tuesday in response to the group known as the Stop Koffi Olomide Collective, which launched a petition against his performance. According to the venue, the decision to no longer host Olomide was made last week.

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.

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Koffi Olomide, real name Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba, is set to perform in South Africa at the end of this month in both Johannesburg and Cape Town. However, a petition to prevent him from performing is being 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 BBC reports.

Additionally, during the court proceedings, four of Olamide's former dancers alleged that they were repeatedly sexually assaulted by the artist between 2002 and 2006 and held against their will while in Paris. However, the court dismissed the kidnapping and assault charges.

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.

The petition against Olomide has been shared by the likes of South African poet Lebo Mashile and is steadily gaining traction. A Twitter page @StopKoffiOlomi1 has been created as a means to share the petition further.