Ann Malinga, the wife of the late award-winning producer Robbie Malinga is fighting to get hundreds of thousands, if not millions, she says are owed to her late husband. The skeletons of Thembinkosi "TK" Nciza, Gauteng ANC provincial secretary have come to haunt him.
HE WAS A RENOWNED PRODUCER
Malinga, who died on 25 December 2017, produced Zahara's top-selling albums - from her debut Loliwe, Phendula to Country Girl. A furious Ann says, "Universal is also part of this fraud by the way. How did they sign the Loliwe catalogue without checking the existing agreement which is between three parties, TS Records, Robbie and Universal. They are shifting the blame to TS." Ann says she is being sent from pillar to post when she tries to get answers from former TS Records owner and Gauteng ANC provincial secretary, Thembinkosi "TK" Nciza, who allegedly got angry when he heard that Ann was communicating with Universal Music to try and find out about the unpaid royalties. Ann tells ZiMoja that Nciza has been dismissing her while Universal Music responded to her, in an email seen by ZiMoja.
ROYALTIES PAYING OFF ADVANCE GIVEN TO ANN
Realising that Nciza is the person who will give her tangible answers, Ann said she wrote to him enquiring about the royalties. In a response seen by ZiMoja, Nciza says: "Will wait for you and speak with you when you are ready to talk no problem." Nciza's lawyer, Dumisani Motsamai of Morolong Inc. sent Ann an email on Saturday, November 23, with a breakdown of Robbie's royalty payments and status. The email reads:" Kindly please receive Robbie Malinga's cumulative royalties statements for the period November / December 2021. The commencement of the TS Records / UMG Licensing Agreement up to Q2 of 2023. Kindly please acknowledge receipt. You will note from the summary spreadsheet that the total amount due to yourself / the estate for this period is R3 247.13. This R3 247.13 was however not paid over to yourself / the estate because TS Records advanced an amount of R80 000.00 to yourself / the estate, against future royalties, in November/December 2021. This amount therefore went towards recoupment of that advance. All future royalty payments will be treated the same way until the advance is fully recouped.TS Records will however continue to diligently share with you, quarterly royalties statements throughout this period. The next statement will be in January 2024 and will cover the periods Q3 and Q4 of 2023,".
SHE IS ALSO ACCUSING TS OF SWINDLING ROBBIE MORE THAN ONCE
Nciza is also being accused by Ann of swindling money made from Robbie's soundtrack, which she says he did for Orlando Pirates. The song, Yonke Lendawo Amabhakabhaka, is always played during Orlando Pirates matches, and whenever the Bucs score, the programme director blasts it and takes the celebrating fans into a frenzy at the stadium. Ann shot back at Nciza's lawyer Motsamai,asking that they, "Send me information about the Orlando Pirates project that is also fraudulent from payments to be registered under a mysterious company. Advice when TS is going to pay up the R2 million loan/advance back to Universal so I can get paid the royalties." The song Yonke Lendawo Amabhakabhaka is part of a 12-track album recorded in 2015, which is also available on downloads. Ann says her late husband has not been paid royalties for the album, which is registered under MMT, a company she doesn't know. A "Who is MMT? TK must explain," Ann asks, adding that she also spoke to Pirates about the album and got satisfactory answers: "Please note I'm clear with Pirates. Nkosana (Khoza) explained everything to me which is what I knew. I don't want them to think I'm bad-mouthing them. They did nothing wrong."
'SHE WANTS TO HER CAKE AND EAT IT'
Motsamai dismisses Robbie's widow's claims. He says, "So Mrs Malinga basically is effectively saying, that regardless of the fact that she received the R80k advance from TS Records in December 2021 - which she does not deny by the way- TS should still be paying the estate royalties for sales from December 2021 to now. Kanjani? when we have not recouped the R80k advance paid to her in December 2021." Without showing any proof of contract entered between TS Records and Robbie, Motsamai adds that they (EMI) paid TS's artists, producers and featured artists in accordance with the agreements then in place between TS and these creatives. "This was a trend from the birth of TS Records until this contract came to an end in November 2021. What this means therefore is that Robbie Malinga's royalties for this period were never (meant to be) paid by TS Records anyway. During this time, Robbie Malinga was paid all his royalties, well and he never once complained to anyone,until he sadly passed away."
