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Musician Johnny Clegg aiming to raise R1m in fight against TB

World-renowned musician and anthropologist Johnny Clegg who was recently awarded an OBE aims to raise R1 million in a single night to go towards the fight against tuberculosis.

On Tuesday 18th August Johnny Clegg will be joined by Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse‚ Pops Mahomed‚ Jesse Clegg‚ Ray Phiri‚ and Nonku Phiri at a concert at Nelson Mandela Theatre in Johannesburg. The money raised at the concert will go directly towards the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)’s campaign to halt the TB epidemic in South Africa.

In September last year Johnny Clegg was shocked to learn that TB is the leading cause of death in South Africa. “It seemed like a distant notion until band members and others around me became ill with TB‚” he said‚ “but after that I became aware that TB is a real disease that lives inside your lungs‚ and if you are really unlucky‚ in your spine‚ brain‚ or other parts of your body.

“We all need to learn what TB is and how it is transmitted. We all need to improve infection control where we live and work and in schools‚ taxis‚ clinics and other public spaces. We must all be TB aware.

“It’s hard to accept a world which turns a blind eye to TB simply because it mostly affects poor people. For this reason I have decided to engage with and to play a part in our national struggle against TB‚” said Clegg.

The concert is the launch of the TAC’s public awareness campaign on TB that aims to ensure people across South Africa know the symptoms of TB‚ how to prevent transmission‚ and that they have an understanding around the treatment available.

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