The Southern African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) has disputed that the artists’ advocacy group, Artists United (AU), is one of its members.
The contention arose during a hearing at the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday. Samro’s legal representative, Advocate Ros Stevenson, insisted that the organisation has no formal relationship with the applicant (AU).
Testified it doesn’t recognise AU
In its answering affidavit, Samro stated that it does not recognise AU.
“Samro is an organisation that collects royalties for artists. And Artists United is not a member of Samro,” Stevenson said.
“There might be members of Samro who are members of Artists United. The applicant itself does not have the right to tell another company what to do.”
However, Advocate Fezeka Magano, representing AU, argued that Samro was deliberately avoiding the substantive issues raised by the group.
She said the organisation has a longstanding history of complaints from artists who accuse Samro of unfair treatment.
“It is not the first time that artists are crying about being prejudiced, excluded. And [about] the fraud that is happening at Samro,” Magano argued.
“They do not deal with the crux of the allegations that are in the papers. Like the misuse of funds, abuse of authority and exclusion of members from participating.”
Samro accused of dodging accountability
After the court session, Artists United convener and deponent in the case, Owen Ndlovu, expressed shock at Samro’s argument.
He insisted that the organisation has previously interacted with Samro leadership and was formally acknowledged.
“Artists United has been communicating with Samro and they acknowledged its existence,” Ndlovu said.
“On August 14, 2025, we had a meeting with the CEO and chairperson of Samro. And Artists United was formally accepted by Samro. Now it comes as a surprise when they say they do not know the organisation.” Ndlovu accused Samro of avoiding scrutiny.
Members’ right to vote is main issue
“They do not want to get to the merits of the matter. All we are saying is ‘you cannot deny members of the organisation that are shareholders a right to vote’. What is it that they are scared of?”
Sunday World has previously reported on multiple disputes involving Samro. These include allegations of corruption, mismanagement, internal conflicts. Also calls for the suspension of CEO Annabelle Lebethe, and demands for the removal of board members.
The matter has been stood down to allow Artists United’s legal team to file a replying affidavit. The judge is expected to rule on Wednesday.
