What ‘possessed’ Macufe organisers to bring Karyn White here?

American artist Karyn White trended on Twitter on Saturday morning for all the wrong reasons. Among other reasons, Twitter was not impressed with her “underwhelming” performance, her being included in the line-up and the post she made on Twitter before jetting off to Mzansi.

She tweeted on Wednesday that she was on her way here to perform at the Macufe African Cultural Festival, which started on September 30 and ends tomorrow.

“On my way to South Africa to perform! Pray for my safety,” she tweeted, infuriating South Africans who asked why she felt the need to pray for her safety. Some told her she should have just stayed at home if she felt that coming to South Africa would put her at risk.

White performed on Friday night, along with SA artists Dr Tumi, Gigi Lamayne, Kwesta, Tshepo Tshola, Lira and DA LES, to name a few.

After her performance,  she tweeted that she had had an “awesome time performing in front of over 10000 people in South Africa”. However, some of those who went said on Twitter that they felt robbed, as her performance was boring.

One Twitter user said at some stage, White’s announcer asked during her set if people were ready for more, “the crowd said ‘Nooooo’, South Africans”.

Actor Florence Masebe was also not impressed with her tweet and her being invited by the Macufe festival organisers.

“She should have asked for prayers so she could get back to half the performer she once was. Baaaaaaaaaaack then,” further tweeting at White, telling her the festival might be the biggest thing to have happened “in your dead career for more than a decade”.

In a series of tweets, Masebe slammed the organisers for inviting an American artist when there were local artists who could have done a better job.

“I watched your interview on Morning Live and wondered what on earth possessed the Macufe organisers to bring you here.”

Masebe says it cannot be okay that the biggest cultural festivals in Mzansi get funding and use it on “irrelevant has-been foreign acts”.

She also questioned whose culture the festival was promoting and elevating if they spent African festival budgets on “forgotten foreign acts”, further saying she would rather spend her money to watch “great local legends”.

“We need to get over this obsession we seem to have with washed-up American artists who can’t even get a gig in a bar back in their hometown.”

Here are some of the reactions on Twitter: