Simphiwe Dana pleads with South Africans not to pirate her new album

Songstress Simphiwe Dana fears that her new album may fall victim to piracy, urging her fans to not illegally download it.

Last week the Recording Industry of SA (Risa) reported that some of the country's biggest songs were being pirated during the lockdown period. According to the report, piracy has skyrocketed while people are at home under lockdown.

The songstress expressed her fears on Twitter, where she pleaded with South Africans not to download or distribute her album illegally.

Simphiwe's fifth studio album was set to be released on March 28, but due to the coronavirus outbreak was postponed till last week Friday.

“Please try and not pirate my new album. I know it’s way too easy to. And you’re suffering from your own mgowo. But please try and support artists. We bring you a lot of peace,” she told fans on Twitter.

Although some tried to drag her, telling the songstress that they didn't have enough money to buy her album, her true stans understood where Simphiwe was coming from and asked her which valid online streaming services they should use to buy her music.

Simphiwe replied saying, “There’s Joox, YouTube Music, Spotify, Deezer and a host of other ones.”

But Simphiwe has already had issues with streaming services carrying the album, after it was accidentally released on Google Music last month and then quickly removed.

While on the topic of her new album, some accused her of using her comments earlier in the week about South African men being "gold diggers" as a publicity stunt for her album.

The star was not here for it, and made it clear that she is "way too good to do publicity stunts".

Simphiwe came under fire last week for her comments, which landed her on the trends list under the hashtag #SimphiweDanaMustFall.

Speaking to TshisaLIVE, the songstress' management said Simphiwe's comments were “not aimed at causing harm”.

“Simphiwe is grateful for the support of her fans. She has strong views and opinions which are not aimed at causing harm. She is excited about the release of her album this Friday and would like to thank her fans in advance for the support they have shown her over the years.”