Bruce Springsteen is set to play his first ever shows in South Africa, 29 years after his E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt launched a protest against apartheid there.

The Boss and his group will head to Cape Town on 28 and 29 January and Johannesburg on 1 February (14) as part of his Wrecking Ball world tour.

The three gigs will mark the first time Springsteen has played in the African nation and will take place almost three decades since Van Zandt set up the Artists United Against Apartheid movement in 1985.

The organisation gathered a range of artists, including Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr and Bob Geldof, to unite in protest against racial segregation on their anthem Sun City.

The election of Nelson Mandela as South Africa's president in 1994 marked the end of apartheid.