Zodwa Wabantu was booked to perform at Newtown’s Cappello at The Billionaire’s launch of their single, 'Nyamazane'.
Controversial entertainer Zodwa Wabantu is standing her ground after a club owner accused her of not honouring a gig she was booked for.
Wabantu was booked to perform at Newtown’s Cappello in mid-August at The Billionaire’s launch of their single, Nyamazane.
“Ja, I didn’t honour it. I didn’t go to Cappello, I went to Botswana,” Zodwa told The Citizen.
Wabantu said it was a matter of who paid the most, as the out-of-country gig paid her R30 000, while she was only paid a R3 000 deposit for the one in Joburg.
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Zodwa not paying back the money
Wabantu is unwilling to repay the money.
“I tried speaking with Ngcebo, the one that gave me the gig. I told them that they should do another gig and they refused and say they want the money back. But I told them that once the money is in my account, it doesn’t go back because my face is on the poster, I advertised on my Instagram,” she said.
Businessman Shane Reddy owns Cappello in Newtown. The Billionaires is a South African DJ duo consisting of Ngcebo Mdima and Karabo Motlogelwa.
Speaking to The Citizen, Mdima who was the one handling the booking of Wabantu, said businessman Reddy flew from Cape Town to see Wabantu live.
“He entrusted me with the Zodwa booking as we had an industry relationship; it was The Billionaires launch so I proposed and he agreed, but ke usisi [Wabantu] disappointed us – she’s said imali yedlozi aybuyi emuva (money meant for ancestors can’t be returned).”
“She should have called and said, ‘guys, there’s another gig coming in, could we please reschedule?’. Instead she kept silent and ignored us till she was back the following week. That’s rude!” Mdima said.
“She must take account and pay back his money”
Speaking to The Citizen, Reddy said he doesn’t know how much it costs to book Wabantu, as the booking was handled by Mdima.
“I paid him a fee and his fee was a fee to cover the entire DJ and entertainment for that night…on that night she [Wabantu] basically dropped him [Mdima] and dropped me because I’m the end user here, it’s my venue,” said Reddy.
He said he has been insisting on getting a refund because “I’m not going to work with an artist of that calibre that doesn’t even have the courtesy to pick up the phone and say ‘we’ve got another gig, can we actually reschedule’ before not pitching up.”
The business owner said Wabantu’s non-commitment to the gig made the venue seem like liars.
“Her fans were all there, they almost started a riot because they feel like the venue lied to them and brought them in under false pretences.”
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‘They are causing drama’
Wabantu doesn’t think her brand is being tarnished by not honouring the gig.
“No, not at all. I want money, how am I tarnishing my brand, when I bagged R30 000?”
She can’t recall the full amount she agreed on with Mdima; however, she said even that full amount couldn’t beat the number from the Botswanan gig.
“It was little, I think it was about R5 000… so you can see that they are causing drama.”
“Coming to you as media is just an overreaction. They still have to come back to me with another date when I can perform.”
Reddy isn’t willing to let Wabantu perform on any other day at his Newtown venue because he doesn’t want to work with a person who behaves the way Wabantu did.
“I’d rather send an attorney’s letter demanding a refund and take it further instead of trying to use her,” said the entrepreneur.
“I don’t want to set a precedent that you can drop a venue and rebook it another date because somebody booked us for more money on the same date. That is not how we do business.”
While Wabantu isn’t bothered by how her brand will be perceived following her no-show, Mdima is concerned that it will affect their relationship with Reddy.
“I don’t think he will book us again if she does not pay him back. It’s unfortunate that he doesn’t want to have anything to do with her, we need to respect other people’s rules and decisions. She cannot say we should arrange another date, we don’t own the club,” Mdima said.
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