He has never made a single negative headline since his career took off. Saxophone player Bongane Sax Radebe has kept his reputation clean. Fans were shocked when he was recently labelled a scammer by a client who booked him for her wedding. Bongane recently shared a thread of posts on social media after a client, known as Tlalelet?o,  blasted and labelled him a scammer after a booking went wrong. "Weddings are expensive and it's even harder when you get suppliers that take advantage of you. One thing that was missing from our wedding was a band, in the last few days we decided to just get a band because we've already spent so much money so we may as well get the final missing puzzle to seal the deal," she says. "We got in touch with Bongane and we paid him. Little did we know that getting a band will bump up the sound costs with our lights and sound guy by a significant amount of money. So, as soon as that was made known to us, we cancelled Bongane and asked for a refund. This all happened within 30minutes," she adds "Bongane told us he will send us the money, when we checked in again, he said he had already paid his team with that money, so he doesn't have it anymore. We parked this until a week or so after the wedding and we reached out again. He then told us he would pay the money in instalments, which he didn't, and we eventually decided to go the legal route. Well, that hasn't been easy as well because he gave us an incorrect address and it's been a wild goose chase to get an address where we can serve summons," she adds. "If you see him, please just ask him to pay back our money-it's been seven months. We empathised with him when he said he hasn't been getting gigs, but the guy has been booked and busy, he just doesn't feel the need to pay us."

 SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

 In a thread of responses, Bongane called the allegations "propaganda", explaining his side of the story.  "There is a wife of a client who booked me in April, has made a post that I am a scammer," he says. "So, the team and I thought in sharing our side of the story. It's also best to educate our fellow people and anyone who is planning to book a band for their special day." Bongane explains that he was booked for the couple's wedding on 8 April 2022. "The husband began communicating with my team and me on Tuesday 5th of April to request a quote. We sent him our rate card and he pleaded for a discount which we gave him," he says. "To my knowledge, it turns out they are booking me for two days. Full band, which my primary cost to have the band is R15k at most, including their transportation fees. R6k for the preparations, booking of rehearsal space, food, accommodation, and transportation. So R15k multiplied by two days, plus per diem," he says. Bongane says, the total amount, went up to R39 000 for the two days, including the discount. "He needed a full band and I was happy to help him out because of the guys I work with, we produce magic at weddings, DJs UnlimitedProduction, and Cedrick. So, we decided on a discount of R39 000 as mentioned."

 THE AGREEMENT

 Bongane says he and the client agreed on the price because they are new and still making a name for themselves and need the exposure.  "He made the payment on Wednesday. Once payment was received, we then told him that we are starting with rehearsals. That means we had to proceed and make payments to the team and book the rehearsal space ,accommodation, outfit preps, and more. Book a car that will be used since it's eight people who will be travelling and a small car wouldn't be sufficient," he says. "The husband returns to me on Wednesday to ask for a refund because he was charged an extra R14k for Backline. The backline is the instruments that are used at the venue; cabling, mics, drum kit, bass amp, and keyboard. I tell him unfortunately I have paid off everyone who will be coming to your wedding a refund won't be possible," he adds."That's where the fight started. I did not go to the wedding nor refund the money because the money was already spent. Bongane goes on to say,"We often opt for huge discounts like this  because of marketing and going to an event and capturing great content that will be used to create traffic to the brand," he says. " It is evident that from "this booking we were not making a cent yet we were to spend our own money just to make it work." Bongane continued to share text messages and conversations with the couple. "Money was paid and I confirmed that I have received the R25k. I made payments to the team on the same day. I paid for rehearsals. At that time, I had R 4k left on the account," he says. "The client learns of the backline costs and turns out he is already broke. I created a group and told DJs Unlimited Production and Cedric Madume what the client is doing. He still insists that he wants his refund," he adds. "The wife is busy with this campaign while she lacks a lot of knowledge. I told her what her husband hid from her and came back to blame me. That her husband had no money to pay for backline, which was meant to be supplied by DJs Unlimited Production so failing to have this while you booked a live band means I cannot come and do my job."