Kaunda Selisho

By Kaunda Selisho

Journalist


Dr Malinga addresses rumours of receiving 500k from Black Coffee

Since appearing on Podcast and Chill, Dr Malinga has received donations but not as much as people seem to think.


Following his appearance on Podcast and Chill with MacG, musician Dr Malinga and his finances have been top of mind for social media users. 

In the two-hour episode, Dr Malinga addressed a range of topics but the most talked-about remains the part of his interview where he broke down after speaking about when his troubles with the tax man made headlines. 

Last month, gossip blogger Musa Khawula tweeted: “The Sheriff visited Dr Malinga’s house and repossessed his furniture. It is said his furniture and appliances are going on auction next week”.

He told the podcast host that the story was true but contextualised his finances claiming that the concept of being broke was relative. 

What happened between Dr Malinga and Sars? 

“So they took my furniture… As we are speaking, I should have invited you to my house,” joked the musician. 

He then alluded to the fact that he plead guilty on the advice of a lawyer that he put his trust in to sort out an issue that he didn’t seem to think was that serious.

This after he was informed that he owed the revenue service R2.1 million. 

“Eish! I remember when I was sending R1 million. It was the 9th of July after my birthday, after Durban July. I used my son’s finger to press send,” mused Malinga. 

“I kept on paying until I was struggling,” he added before recalling the struggles brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. 

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Malinga recalls reaching out to Sports, Arts and Culture minister Nathi Mthethwa in addition to a range of other people looking for anyone who would be able to help him. 

The musician said he went to the auction where his things were being sold and that he was overcome by the desire to beg and explain his situation to the auctioneers to get them to hold off on selling his things.

“I’m that guy, I don’t want donations. Not in a wrong way… Maybe because I’m used to giving, I’m not used to receiving. Let me pause here…” he asked before taking a moment to shed some tears.

Him showing such vulnerability in an interview moved so many people who came forward to help him after the interview aired.

He went on to reveal that he was fine with what had happened until Musa Khawula put it out there for all to see. 

Malinga added that he can’t hate the blogger as he was just doing his job and it’s not as though he was reporting something that was not factual. 

“He made it trend and some people attacked me because I fall under celebrities. But you know what I tell people, I’m a singer who just appears on TV.”

How much does Dr Malinga owe Sars?

After paying R1 million towards his R2.1 million debt and having his things auctioned off in an effort to make up the rest of the total, Dr Malinga said that the revenue service would need to calculate what his outstanding balance was.

In addition to selling his household furniture, the musician claimed that they also sold one of his vehicles for a mere R40 000.

He estimated his outstanding balance at around R500 000. 

People step up to help 

It was because of this estimated outstanding amount that social media users propagated the rumour that fellow musician Black Coffee stepped up to cover the entirety of that bill. 

Dr Malinga took to Twitter to shut down the rumour. 

“Hi guys @RealBlackCoffee didn’t give 500k let’s not mislead people. Thanks bye,” he tweeted.

This comes after other musicians like Kabza de Small, Busiswa, Oskido and Mkahadzi stepped up to do what they could to help the musician earn an income. 

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