They say that when it rains, it pours. Popular music producer and businessman DJ Tira has had a string of misfortunes lately. In April, thieves broke into his Afrotainment studio in Durban and stole equipment worth thousands of Rands. Last month, a singer made damning allegations against the DJ, implying he committed sexual assault. Tira has now exposed an alleged scammer masquerading as an Afrotainment employee.

PROMISES

The DJ said a person by the name of Bandile has been representing themselves under the pretense that he works for his record label. "He has been approaching individuals, claiming he can secure them jobs at the Afrotainment Durban July Marquee in exchange for their six months’ bank statements." Tira said.

BE CAREFUL

Tira has confirmed that the person is not associated with Afrotainment in any capacity. "We strongly advise against sharing banking details or personal information." In recorded audio, the person says he worked for the label and can reserve a place at the marquee. DJ Tira says, "People need to be careful; there are a lot of chances, especially around this time of the year. The Durban July is a big deal; everyone wants a piece of the pie, so we must be careful." The number of the alleged person named Bandile rang, but he dropped the phone when he heard where the call was from.

STUDIO BREAK-IN

When the thieves broke into the Afrotainment studio in April, after they gained entry through the gate into the stand-alone house, they made off with studio equipment, laptops, microphones, and other devices. They took unreleased music from Bulo, and Dladla Mshunqisi lost their unreleased music, which was stored on the hard drives and laptops. DJ Tira offered a reward of R20,000 to recover his equipment. When the incident occurred, DJ Tira was at the Maboneng Precinct in Joburg. At the time, Tira told ZiMoja that he was heartbroken and hoped that the police and community could help. He said what breaks his heart even more is the fact that his artists are affected by the robbery. "What hurts the most is the fact we lost music, and some of our artists were preparing to release their albums soon, and all their efforts are gone just like that," he added.