The legendary Maskandi group, Abafana BakaMgqumeni, is facing tough times.
The duo, which is made up of Nelisani and Skhevane Mseleku, complain that they are being sidelined for gigs.
Nelisani told Sunday World that, in September alone, they only have about three gigs.
“It’s not even major events, but nonetheless, we appreciate those bookings. The last time we performed was at the Impucuzeko KaMaskandi Festival in August in Durban,” he said.
“As we speak, there are two big events happening in KZN this coming weekend. They are Ugu Maskandi Festival and Umbuso Wamaciko. We’re not booked in both events, and we don’t know why.”
“At some point we thought people no longer liked our music. But we were wrong; our new song, Ngiyakudinga Dali, has proven that people love our music.”
He continued: “We spoke to event organisers, but they told us about budget constraints. We don’t believe this is the case; our fees are reasonable.
“Besides, we know artists who charge twice our fee, but they’ll be performing at these two events [at the weekend].”
Tired of asking for favours
He said they are tired of asking for favours from event organisers. “I think the plan is to destroy our name. We’re being punished for carrying Mgqumeni’s legacy.”
The UGU Maskandi Festival’s organiser, Siyabonga Mkhungo, confirmed that the group contacted him.
“I can confirm that we spoke with Abafana BakaMgqumeni, but we couldn’t agree on the booking fee,” said Mkhungo.
“I told them that if we can get more funding, then we can book them. For now, we only have two municipalities sponsoring our event.”
Umbuso Wamaciko event organiser Gezani Dludla said: “We booked Abafana BakaMgqumeni twice in 2022 and 2023, but they never honoured the invite.
“They came in very late. This can only mean we were never their priority. So we decided to exclude them this year,” said Dludla.
“We have nothing against them; we just need artists to respect their fans and their work.”
