Leonard Cohen To Play South Africa In 2013?

Yesterday, there were a few Twitter and Facebook entries carrying the rumor that Leonard Cohen might be coming to South Africa. This morning, Die Burger¹ published this story [Google English translation from Afrikaans]:

Leonard Cohen Sings Perhaps In SA
By Janice Keogh
2012-09-27 07:00

JOHANNESBURG. The singer of “Hallelujah”, “So Long, Marianne” and “Famous Blue Raincoat” will probably soon be seen on stages in South Africa.

Attie van Wyk, Big Concerts’ owner, on RSG’s Tjailatyd said yesterday he negotiated with Leonard Cohen’s agent about concert dates for April next year.

“I am very confident that the tour will be confirmed shortly, but at this stage I can not 100% confirmed before the contract was signed … Watch this space,” said Van Wyk email.

John Langford, Big Concerts chief operating officer, said it seems likely that a tour will be a reality.

This would not be the first time a South African Cohen concert has been under consideration. According to Praise Be… Or How “Hallelujah” Man Leonard Cohen’s Comeback Actually Happened, posted Fri Jan 9, 2009 by Johnny Black in Rock’s Backpages, legs of the World Tour were planned for Hawaii, Japan, and South Africa:

Remarkable as Leonard Cohen’s comeback has been, Rob Hallett is convinced the end is nowhere near. “We’ll start up again in Hawaii in mid-January [2009], go down through New Zealand, into Australia, back out via Japan, then South Africa, have another break, then do the United States of America. After that, who knows? He could tour in Europe until he no longer wants to.”

While a Dec  4, 2010 Honolulu show was scheduled, it was then cancelled.² No Japanese or South African dates were publicly scheduled in 2009 or 2010.

1. Die Burger, according to Wikipedia, “is a daily Afrikaans language newspaper, published by Naspers. By 2008, it had a circulation of 91,665 in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa.” [↩]
2. See Leonard Cohen Is – Make That Was – Coming To Hawaii [↩]