Suppliers and crew members are enraged and want their money after they delivered their full services towards making the Mandoza biopic. The biopic tells and documents the life and times of Kwaito music veteran Mduduzi "Mandoza" Tshabalala who died in 2016 after a year-long battle with cancer. In the making of the story, the production has been facing several financial struggles which have led to it being halted until matters are resolved.

GATVOL!

 A staff member who worked on the production tells ZiMoja that the money meant to be paid to suppliers and crew members was misused. According to him, the money was embezzled by the late Kwaito stars’ former manager. "We are told on the side that the money was spent by Mandoza’s former manager. We don’t know how true that is. We were not hired by him, production companies hired us," one supplier says. "You cannot hire people and not pay them after the job is done, that’s not how it works. We were happy to be part of the production because it tells our African stories but there was a budget allocated for that production. Where is the money?" he asks.

EMPTY PROMISES

Last month, suppliers and crew received a letter from Vaugh Eaton, Executive Producer at Biopic Films apologising for the delayed payments. In the letter seen by ZiMoja, he states that they are currently awaiting payment from their funders. "And unfortunately, the payment process is taking longer than anticipated," he says. "We have been in contact with our funders to expedite the payment process and expect resolve as soon as possible but can assure all cast and crew that all payments will be finalised. We value our business relationship with you, and we hope that this delay in payment does not affect our future collaborations. We are committed to settling the outstanding payment with you as soon as we receive payment from our funders."

PROTESTING

Since the written promise, the staff members have been gatvol of waiting and have taken to the set of the e-TV show Smoke & Mirrors being produced by Zuko Nodada’s company, The Final Chapter, who is the co-producer of the Mandoza biopic and also responsible for productions Ukhakhayi and Future Bafana Bafana coach. The source who was present during the protest said, "The guys came in and started taking the equipment from the crew. They confiscated cameras and tripods and demanded their money. They said they will keep them until they get paid. It was a mess. But I get their frustration" the source adds. The staff refused to leave until they were paid a portion of their payment. "They received a portion of the payment as a promise and they left. But they are still waiting for their full payments." Nodada could not be reached for comment.