Pretoria - A group of event promoters are set to drag reality TV star and entertainer Zodwa Wabantu to court for taking money upfront and then failing to show up for gigs.
The promoters have united and are mobilising others and entertainment venue owners. They say they have given up rescheduling the star of Zodwa Wabantu Uncensored and are demanding their money back and turning to court to attach her assets.
United under the campaign, #ZodwaMustPay, they have opened a WhatsApp group with promoters from Soshanguve, Hammanskraal, Winterveldt, Rustenburg, Limpopo, North West and Gauteng.
Legal practitioner Solly Golele, also a promoter as well as entertainer, and DJ Maizer, said Sedibe Attorneys and Shela Attorneys were building a case against the star. They are bringing together all aggrieved promoters to establish exactly how much they would demand from Zodwa or recoup the money by attaching her assets if she failed to react positively to a letter of demand, default judgment and summons.
It was still early days, he said, but they had already surpassed R200 000. She failed to pitch and did not return payments, they said.
“We are putting together all the evidence – proofs of payment, agreements and text conversations. We will use that in court to prove she was paid to render a service but did not.
“Each person paid a minimum of R20 000. Some paid it several times for different events,” said Golele.
The promoters said Wabantu also damaged their credibility and placed them in situations where they had to face angry crowds who waited for her for hours, only for her to not show up and ignore calls. The movement’s spokesperson is former SMU FM radio personality and podcaster, Percy Sleash SA. “We booked Zodwa Wabantu for a Maunde City event in Winterveldt for September 27, but she did not show up. Then there was a time I was an MC at an event in Funky Inn, Soshanguve, and she did not show. This was already a rescheduled gig. Everybody has evidence that they paid her; she even posted videos that she was coming at times, but she did not show up.”
Vuyo Kubo said they paid Zodwa Wabantu R70 000 for “doing no work at all”. He said they first paid her R30 000 for an event in Lovies Braai Chillas and Carwash in Allanridge in 2020, but she did not arrive.
“With another team of promoters, we booked her for a show at Upperton in 2020 for R35 000. We then decided
to host the Moja Music Festival and booked her for that instead, and added R5 000, but she did not come.”
The promoters said at times, she would say she was on her way when they could hear she was clearly sleeping. Then she would switch off her phone. They would reschedule, but when she missed that too, she still did not send their money back.
The Pretoria News could not get a comment from Wabantu as her phone rang unanswered. A text message giving her an opportunity to tell her side of the story was not read. She was quoted elsewhere saying the promoters could do “whatever they wanted or reschedule their events”.
Pretoria News