South Africa doesn’t have the greatest track record when it comes to international acts, and attracting some of the world’s biggest names can sometimes be a hard sell.

That’s why Sunday’s ‘Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100’ event was such a big deal. Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Oprah Winfrey, Naomi Campbell, Pharrell Williams, Chris Martin, Usher and other international stars gathered in Johannesburg for a charity concert in honour of Nelson Mandela, a century after he was born.

Here’s The Guardian:

Singer Bob Geldof, who organised the Live Aid concerts for Africa, was also there. Global Citizen, an advocacy group, campaigns for an end to extreme poverty, and other causes.

It says many people won tickets to Sunday’s concert through charity work and petition-signing. World leaders previously gathered at the stadium in 2013 for a memorial after the death of Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader who was also South Africa’s first black president.

The festival provided a platform for government leaders, CEOs and others to pledge more funding for social programmes and healthcare.

In a recorded video message, Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, promisedmore money in the national budget. Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, tweeted a $50m pledge for education for girls and women around the world.

“This is amazing!” the festival host, Trevor Noah, said as Trudeau’s tweet was shown on a big stadium screen.

Trevor Noah highlighted a quote by Mandela that “that poverty could be overcome through determined action”.

Pharrell and Chris Martin boogied:

Beyoncé was the most anticipated performance of the evening, and she didn’t disappoint, proving that she really can do everything when she started rapping:

beyoncé went the fuck off pic.twitter.com/pOF3HVGggq

— HOOD CLEOPATRA (@umcornell) December 2, 2018

Fans watching from home only got to see 25 minutes of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, though.

In the spirit of the event, the pair wanted to ensure that people who paid for the concert got an exclusive experience. The clip below is a more low-key performance:

Beyoncé and Jay-Z performing in South Africa at the #GlobalCitizenFestival pic.twitter.com/e46i9tAHEe

— OneTribeMag™ (@OneTribeMag) December 2, 2018

Okay, not that low-key, but nothing Beyoncé does is low-key.

TimesLIVE shared this compilation video, along with a number of other videos:

Capetonians must be feeling the FOMO.

[source:guardian]