Just hours before the massive Mandoza Legacy Lives On: Nkalakatha Road To 25 Years Celebration, artists are fuming due to lack of payment and money disagreements. Dancers who asked to remain anonymous said they have not been given their deposits. Actor Khaya Dladla has pulled out of the show as the host after not reaching an agreement with the event organisers.

DISAGREEMENTS

The dancers said they have been rehearsing but are waiting for at least a deposit. "We are just scared to say, in case we get cancelled, but we are being sent from pillar to post." Khaya has demanded to be removed from all marketing material that was distributed on all social media without his approval. "It's about time people take us seriously. These people called for a meeting, asking that I host the event. I happily gave them a discount because it was a great initiative and I linked them up with some of my contacts because this seemed like a big event,' Khaya said. "But it's highly disrespectful to then get a call after seeing my face on the poster saying I would only be making an appearance and my fee has been dropped. I mean, why not conclude all this with me prior? This shows a high level of unprofessionalism from the organisers,' he said. "This is my livelihood and my job; I respect what I do and people are expecting to see me at the event looking and smelling great," he added.

TOO LATE

Busisiwe Kunene from Precious Gens Media, who is the organiser alongside Mandoza's wife, Mpho Tshabalala, told ZiMoja that it is too late to remove Khaya from the marketing material. "We gave him an offer because we didn't have any sponsors at the time; in principle, we agreed on a fee, so we took out the poster,' she said. "We called him a few times yesterday afternoon after we got the poster out and we got Rami Chuene, who offers her services at a lower rate,' Busisiwe said the job of the MC at their event will not be extensive. "The MCs come on stage only twice so we needed to reduce the fee. We can't remove the poster; the poster is already out and there are even other people partnering up who are not on the poster. We now can't pay the designer again for changes. Khaya won't be coming and Rami is the new host,' she added. "As far as dancers, everyone has been paid, and if not, then there must have been an error somewhere but everyone has been cleared," Kunene added.