Global Citizen Festival: well-funded, but a security fiasco
Global Citizen organisers say the event at FNB Stadium generated R100bn in pledges, but that might be cold comfort for those who were terrorised afterwards by muggers
The Global Citizen Festival descended into chaos early last Monday morning, with concertgoers left stranded outside FNB Stadium in Soweto, targets for muggers and armed attackers. In the aftermath, the organisation has rattled off figures that seem staggering: in just 10 hours the initiative encouraged more than 5.65-million "actions" (good deeds or social media endorsements), leading to 58 commitments of funding worth R100bn. But despite the overwhelming interest generated by the event — with calls to action from Oprah Winfrey and President Cyril Ramaphosa, and stars such as Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams and Beyoncé performing — security was scant at the Joburg edition, raising questions about planning and funding. Since its launch in 2012, the Global Citizen Festival has become an international event, held in a different location each year. The idea behind it is to create a movement of engaged citizens who use their voices to raise awareness around the ultimate aim: ending extreme...
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