‘Safeguarding our festival’ – Why concert organisers removed Kelly Khumalo from lineup

The Tribute to Women concert removed musician Kelly Khumalo from its lineup.

Presented by Malibongwe Arts Festival, the concert will take place next week Saturday, 12 August, at the Emmarentia Botanical Gardens.

On the line up is Mafikizolo, Nkosazana Daughter, Amanda Black, Kabza Da Small, Sjava, Pabi Cooper, and many more.

Kelly’s removal from the lineup comes after new developments emerged in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, linking the singer to one of the five accused on trial.

In a statement, organisers said they respect the legal processes and wish to indicate Kelly is innocent until proven otherwise, but had decided to remove her from the bill.

“We have noted, with concern, comments on social media platforms and calls from many patrons of our festival. We respect the legal processes and wish to indicate Ms Kelly Khumalo is innocent until proven otherwise.

“However, in the interest of safeguarding our festival, management has taken the decision to relieve Ms Khumalo of her obligations to perform at our festival this year to afford her and her team the time they require to deal with the issues emanating from the current court proceedings,” the statement reads.

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ALSO READ: Senzo Meyiwa trial twist: Kelly Khumalo ‘received two calls’ from murder accused

Kelly Khumalo linked to one of the accused in the Senzo Meyiwa trial

Kelly was in a relationship with the late soccer star, Senzo Meyiwa, at the time of his death in 2014.

Last week the state’s fourth witness, Col Lambertus Steyn, told the court he had established that Kelly made contact on two occasions, on August 2 at 10.40 pm and again on October 15 2014, with one of the five accused on trial, Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli.

“The investigations team did give me enough evidence to tell me that the number that ends with 202 belongs to suspect number five [Ntuli]. The other number, which ends with 458 belongs to Kelly Khumalo, and the investigations leader will come and testify about that,” Col Lambertus Steyn said, adding there was information they obtained that confirmed that the number belonged to Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli.

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