Controversial and popular rapper Shebeshxt has allegedly been playing hide and seek with a North West events promoter who is demanding R45, 000 from the rapper after he pulled a no-show for a gig despite pocketing the cash.
Shebeshxt, whose real name is Lehlogonolo Chauke, was booked by businessman Tebogo Maribe to perform at the sixth-anniversary celebrations event of his company Bottles & Braai Sundays set for the Lichtenburg Rugby Stadium in North West on December 31 2023.
However, the rapper failed to honour the invitation, leaving thousands of patrons livid.
Maribe told Sunday World that he paid Shebeshxt a deposit of R22 000 on November 17, 2023, and the balance of R23 000 was paid the day before the event on December 30 2023. Sunday World has seen the proofs of payment to the artist.
Maribe said Shebeshxt was scheduled to perform from 12:15am to 1am as one of the headliners.
The event, which attracted a boisterous crowd of an estimated 2 000 revellers, started at
2pm on December 31 and ended at 6am on New Year’s Day (January 1 2024).
Maribe said he organised the gig through Shebeshxt’s booking agent ,Mahlatse Thobejane.
Maribe said the signs that Shebeshxt would not come to perform at the event started to show on the morning of the celebrations.
“I received a message from his booking agent Mahlatse Thobejane that he (Shebeshxt) will come to Lichtenburg at 2am to perform and not 12:15am. I called him (Thobejane) that morning and we agreed on 12:30am as the time for the performance. I called him around 9:45pm to find out how far Shebeshxt was, and he did not answer his cellphone.
“I called him again around 10pm and he said he would send me the cellphone number of Shebeshxt’s road manager to call. At 12:30am the artist did not pitch, and I only received the road manager’s number after 1am. I called the number but there was no response,” said Maribe.
He said he contacted Thobejane the day after the event to discuss when the company would receive its refund due to Shebeshxt’s no-show.
Maribe said Thobejane apologised for the rapper’s actions and told him to speak to Shebeshxt’s manager and girlfriend Kholofelo Chuene regarding the refund. Maribe said he sent a message to Chuene on January 9 regarding the refund.
In a series of WhatsApp messages sent by Maribe to Chuene, which Sunday World has seen, he told Chuene on January 9 that they were demanding a refund.
He sent her another message on January 12 asking her to answer her phone. In her response to Maribe, Chuene acknowledged the debt.
“Greetings. We didn’t forget about your refund please give us until this month end, we
only covered half of events that we missed, the other half we can only cover month end (sic). Sorry for the inconvenience,” wrote Chuene.
Maribe responded by saying the company could not wait until the end of January to
receive the refund because they had debts to service. Chuene did not respond to him. Maribe said Chuene had failed to respond to his calls and text messages since.
Thobejane said he had nothing to do with the rapper’s payments and told Sunday World to enquire with Chuene.
“The payments were made to Shebeshxt’s bank account, which is managed by him and his manager Kholofelo. I have nothing to do with payments,” said Thobejane.
Chuene did not respond to Sunday World’s calls and text messages for comment.
Maribe said he could not afford to take legal action against Shebeshxt due to lack of funds.
He said the company suffered a huge loss from the event and now owes service providers. He said they made a loss due to the choice of the date of event, high expenses, low turnout and low ticket sales, among other issues.
