R&B crooner Preston “Presss” Sihlangu’s fans were left heartbroken when the promoters of a Valentine’s Day show at The Quirinale in Barberton, Mpumalanga, where he was supposed to perform as the headline act, cancelled the event after he vanished a few days before the festival.
The disaster unfolded after event organisers booked Presss, and paid him a R15 000 deposit to perform at the show billed for February 16.
Many were looking forward to experiencing his latest double album, released last December, in a live setting for the first time. But the show was cancelled after Presss failed to answer the promoter’s calls a few days before the show.
Event organiser Reshen Mahlangu says the turn of events has been a nightmare. He said they booked Presss, distributed promotional material and booked the venue for him. But when the time came for final confirmations, the singer disappeared without a trace.
“We did everything right,” Mahlangu told Sunday World. “We secured him, paid the money, and even started promoting the event. But then he just
disappeared.”
Mahlangu said as the event drew closer, panic set in when calls to Presss went unanswered and messages were ignored. He said with time running out, he turned to his contacts in Joburg to locate the missing singer.
“I got my Jozi people involved. You know, the ones who can find anyone, anywhere. I won’t name them but let’s just say they found Presss real quick. He acknowledged the R15 000 deposit to them and even promised that he would come to perform,” said Mahlangu.
But just when things seemed back on track, Presss ghosted Mahlangu again.
With no word from Presss and no way to guarantee his arrival, the organisers had to cancel the event.
“This is the reality now. When artists don’t show up, people take it out on the venue. They break things, they riot – it’s happening everywhere.
“We couldn’t take that risk. People were going to come expecting to see Presss, and when they realised he wasn’t coming, anything could have happened. It was safer to call everything off,” he said.
Mahlangu said the cancellation of the event had crippled organisers financially. He said as the organisers, they had to pay a cancellation fee to a Pretoria-based band that was already secured for the evening.
In addition, they had paid for sound, lighting and other logistics. Also, Mahlangu said, the couples who had booked VIP cubicles for R3 000, private tables for R1 000 and dinner buffets for R200 per person had to be refunded.
To make matters worse, Mahlangu says, Presss has yet to refund the R15 000 deposit paid to him, despite numerous attempts to reach him.
“We just want our money back. That’s all. But instead, we hear he is busy going up and down on dates with his woman, living his best life while we sit here counting our losses,” Mahlangu said.
Sunday World made multiple attempts to contact Presss, but he ignored all phone calls and text messages we sent him.
