Bheki and his two wives, Makhosi Shelembe and Hlengiwe Sithole, are accusing the producer and owner of the Mnakwethu show, Nthabiseng Thomas, of taking advantage of their plight.
They were part of Mnakwethu’s last season and were always on top of the trending list. However, they claim they received nothing from TV exposure.
“I was recruited by one of the participants to join the Mnakwethu show. The agreement was that, each of us would be paid R50 000. I became suspicious when they refused to give us copies of the contracts,” said Bheki.
He said both his wives and himself never received the payment.
“I only received R12 000 instead of R50 000. I received that money because I needed to fix my car and so I asked them to pay me in advance, otherwise I wouldn’t have been paid.
“Our verbal agreement was that I’d be paid the rest of the money after the show, but they never paid. I did not ask them because we had an agreement and I expected them to fulfil it.
“It’s been a year already and there’s no sign of payment. I am aggrieved because they used my plight to gain viewership. If I had the money, I’d be suing them for taking advantage of me.”
Hlengiwe said she also did not receive payment.
“I was promised R50 000 but I received nothing. I never followed up because I was highly pregnant and I didn’t want to stress myself,” said Hlengiwe.
“I was also suspicious when they took all the paperwork with them. I have no doubt that they made a lot of money through our own episodes, but we gained nothing from it.”
Makhosi added that no one phoned to explain why she was not paid as promised.
“I don’t understand why I never received the money because I had an agreement with them. I am not happy because my life was exposed for all to see, but in the end I gained nothing but stress. My life has become harder, I’m [even] struggling to buy food and nappies for the baby.”
Thomas, the show’s producer, failed to respond to enquiries from Sunday World.
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