Award-winning songbird Makhadzi’s much-awaited one-woman show, billed for this Saturday at Makhuvha Stadium in Venda, is set be thrown into disarray after another promoter threatened court action to force her to perform at his event on the same date.
Sunday World can exclusively reveal that Thato Mashabela, the promoter of the event, has threatened to obtain a court order at the high court in Polokwane to force Makhadzi to perform at his event at Boeketlong Lodge and Pub in Polokwane.
In letter of demand, which we have seen, Mashabela’s lawyers, Marweshe Attorneys, said he booked the Matorokisi hitmaker to perform at the venue after signing an agreement with her record label Open Mic on May 12.
According to the letter, which was sent to the record label on September 22, Mashabela was expected to pay the musician an R80 000 appearance fee and R2 000 for video to promote the show.
Mashabela was expected to pay her a R40 000 deposit after signing an agreement and the remaining R40 000 seven days before her performance date.
In compliance with their agreement, Mashabela paid Open Mic the R40 000 deposit and R2 000 to shoot a promotional video for the event, but the video was never shot.
“Accordingly, payments for the aggregate amount of R42 000 were accepted by Open Mic,” reads the letter.
The lawyers said they discovered that Makhadzi was going to perform at her much-vaunted show titled Makhadzi One Woman Show scheduled for the same date she is supposed to perform at their event.
“We are further instructed that on or about August 2022, when our client saw a post on social media that Makhadzi will be performing at an event entitled Makhadzi One Woman Show, also to be held on 1 October 2022, it was already clear and evident to our client that Open Mic would breach the agreement.”
The letter further states that Mashabela’s event manager sent several WhatsApp messages to Open Mic’s representative to enquire about the muso’s double booking.
The representative said Makhadzi had withdrawn from Mashabela’s event because she was booked to perform at her event, which ends on Sunday.
Reads the letter: “When the issue was communicated, our client advised us that Open Mic had made an undertaking to refund our client its monies and, in the alternate, our client should choose a different date.
“Our client further advised that you refused to accept its proposal to a roundtable meeting request.”
The lawyers state in the letter that Makhadzi was in breach of the contract and asked her to fix the mess within two days. They threatened to obtain a high court order to force her to perform at the lodge.
If they carry out the threats, Makhadzi’s one-woman show will be thrown into disarray.
“Should you fail to remedy the breach as demanded, kindly note that our instructions [are] to urgently report yourselves to the regulatory authorities and to proceed with an urgent application in the high court to compel you to honour the aforesaid contract with punitive legal costs. Our client’s rights are reserved,” reads the letter.
Speaking to Sunday World on Wednesday, Mashabela confirmed that he is in dispute with Makhadzi over her withdrawal from his event. He said when he enquired from Open Mic, the record label assured him that the muso will perform at his show as she usually performs at several shows per day.
He said they will take Makhadzi to court if she does not honour her contract to perform at the lodge. “The event is already fully booked, as well as the lodge,” said Mashabela.
“People want to see Makhadzi. If it was just any other artist, it would be better, but it is impossible to lie to people about MaKhadzi, because she is a big artist.”
Open Mic’s representative, only known as Mmaphuthi, denied that Makhadzi has another booking for Saturday.
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