Kanye West, arguably the world’s biggest hip hop star, may perform to a half-empty stadium in South Africa for his live concert this December. That is, if the event happens at all.
Now known just as Ye, the cantankerous artist who is also a producer and fashion designer, could be met by mostly vacant seats and a hollow stadium field if the Ye Live Concert is not cancelled before then.
The concert, which was supposed to be the biggest live music event of 2025, has been riddled with a litany of controversies, including slow ticket sales and legal threats. Event finances are central to this messy debacle.
It is alleged that the South African promoter, Samuel Monyake, of Monyake Group, has not paid a single cent to Ye and his team since the announcement was made on September 10. This has allegedly warranted a contractual breach and may result in Ye calling the whole thing off.
According to a source intricately involved in the contractual agreements of this event, Monyake was supposed to advance the first part of the payment before Ye posted about the South African performance on X (formerly Twitter) on September 20.
“No payment was made, even after the post, it irritated Ye’s management” said the source, who cannot be named out of fear of reprisals.
The source said Monyake was blaming the slowness of investors for the non-payment.
Sunday World has a copy of the event’s primary contract between Ye” and Monyake Group. On payment issues, it stipulates that: “Purchaser (Monyake) to pay a … 50% [deposit] via a neutral escrow account on artist’s signing of agreement, 25% within 72 hours of announcement, and 25% seven days after announcement…”
The deposit was reportedly also not paid into the escrow account by the promoter.
It is unclear how Ye’s management allowed the X post without the requisite payment obligations. John Monopoly, a representative of Ye did not respond to our enquiries.
Monyake has attributed the delay to Ye’s management not signing the escrow account agreement.
“I am waiting on his (Ye) management to send back the escrow paperwork that I established with FNB in South Africa, but they are delaying.”
The promoter, who has previously handled mainly relatively small gospel stars’ concerts in church venues, insists that his detractors and competitors are behind the smear campaign.
Tickets went on sale on September 24, with a pre-registration option.
Brandon Duffield, the CEO of Ticketpro, an exclusive seller of the event tickets, expressed that he is unable to disclose the sales figures due to commercial confidentiality. He, however, said a significant number of tickets were reserved for those who pre-
registered.
This publication has it on good authority that only 6 000 tickets have been purchased thus far. Ellis Park Stadium is meant to accommodate about 42 000 revellers.
This is a stark contrast to the Chris Brown concert, which was sold out in just a few hours for the event at FNB Stadium with a capacity of over 90 000 fans. Compared to Brown, Ye ought to be by far hyper popular and be able to outsell his compatriot on any given Sunday.
In 2012, when Ye first performed in SA, golden circle tickets were sold out in 20 minutes after the announcement.
Ticketpro further assured those who have already bought tickets that funds will be held securely in trust and will not be released to the promoter until after the event has taken place, or refunded directly to customers if the event does not materialise.
Ye’s management team is allegedly considering pulling the plug on Monyake and finding another local promoter to avoid any possible embarrassment.
