*This story has been updated
Celebrity sangoma Mkhulu Romeo is fuming after popular chicken franchise KFC allegedly stole his kota idea and renamed it Kentucky Sphatlo.
Social media was abuzz on Tuesday morning after the franchise announced that it would be selling township dish kota, also known as bunny chow or sphatlo, in Pretoria as part of its new limited menu campaign.
However, Mkhulu Romeo, born Romeo Malepe, called the franchise to order claiming the Sphatlo idea was his.
He said he presented the idea to a KFC brand manager at its Yum offices in Bryanston in 2019.
Mkhulu Romeo told Sunday World that after pitching the idea in person over four years ago, he was blue-ticked by the brand manager and later sent letters of demand by KFC lawyers to stop posting pictures of the company’s kota on social media.
“What they are doing is not okay at all. They should have called and said you remember that kota presentation? Can we collaborate? What is so difficult about that?” he asked.
He added that his initial meeting with the brand manager was supposed to culminate in a meeting with the big bosses at KFC head offices, but this did not happen because the brand manager started ignoring him.
“In the presentation, we had designed sneakers as well, as other items we had pitched that should be sold during activations,” he said.
“We kept having back and forth with the brand manager. What we really wanted to do was to meet the bosses, but that did not happen.”
Mkhulu Romeo added that after the brand manager ignored him, he took to his Facebook page, which boasts about 69 000 followers, to post pictures of the kota, saying this was met with hostility from KFC who unleashed lawyers on him.
“I posted on Facebook after seeing that the meeting is not happening. It trended and then it got to KFC. They sent me a letter and told me to delete [the posts] otherwise they will sue me. I deleted them.”
He said he abandoned the idea until he noticed it trending on KFC’s social media page.
“I was shocked that they were suing me then, but now they are advertising our idea … I feel like this is unnecessary. We could have just collaborated.
“If you check all over the world where KFC is [conducting its business], they incorporate the local dish to their menu, so that is what inspired me.”
In addition to the kota, KFC is also offering waffles as part of its menu in collaboration with globe-trotting amapiano sensation Uncle Waffles
Mkhulu Romeo said he is plotting a way forward on how to handle the matter legally.
A Yum communications spokesperson had not replied to Sunday World at the time of publishing.
On Wednesday KFC spokesperson Portia Mvubu responded to the allegations. Mvubu denied that the idea was stolen from Malepe.
“While we love South Africa’s passion for KFC, we can confirm that this product was not as a result of a concept presented to us by Romeo. For more than 50 years, KFC has been inspired by the South African heritage and culture and has regularly brought innovation like the Streetwise Chow, Masala Crunch and Mrs Ball’s Chutney burger to our menu,”
She added: “It is no secret that the Sphatlho is a well-known South African meal and the limited edition Sphatlho is a result of an extensive product development process – aimed to be a KFC take on this South African classic.
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