Popular gospel group Abathandwa has accused businesswoman and former manager Ayanda Ncwane of exploiting them and not paying them their dues in royalties for their hit album, Ehhe moya wam.
Abathandwa also said after their song sold multi-platinum, Ayanda only gave them a plague for their hard work and kept the money for herself and her company, Ncwane Communications.
The group members said despite their song Umoya Wam blasting the airwaves, becoming a hit on social media sites including Tik-Tok and being rendered a church anthem at its prime, their lives have not changed a bit, they can’t support their families and are paupers, all thanks to Ayanda.
Speaking to Sunday World on Wednesday, group leader Percy Nyoka said six years after releasing their first album under Ncwane Communication, they have not been furnished with any contract, and they don’t know how much their music is worth.
“When the working relationship started, it started very well… What we wanted was given to us in terms of having an album. We thought we were going to learn a lot of things because we are quite active and we are eager to learn. The opportunity we were given did not come with a contract, the conversation was that they wanted to empower us,” Nyoka said.
He added that the group was brought to Ncwane Communications by Ayanda’s late husband and multi-award-winning gospel star Sifiso, shortly before his passing.
“There was not contracts because Sifiso said he wanted to groom us and when he passed on, his wife took over… She said she will empower us and [that] Ncwane Communications is our home. We did not know that there will be technical implications because she now became this big messiah and saviour of our careers. Someone who is going to take us places. So we believed her and respected her so much,” Nyoka said.
He said problems started when they became popular and the group started making moves and real money.
“Ayanda is the one who knows everything regarding Abathandwa payments and royalties because everything is with her… As I speak to you now as a composer for our songs, I have not received a cent in royalties. I would always ask and that will end up in fights,” he said.
He said Ayanda started telling them that she has made investments into the group and wanted payments for that. Nyoka said at one point, he was taken to a music distributor’s offices in Johannesburg, where Ayanda signed documents for the group.
“I did not know anything at the time. I was in a space I was very happy to be in and with someone I trusted. We get to these offices and they introduce me to this white lady and I am introduced as someone who will be giving them content, only to find out that our music was submitted under her record label, and that was fine, technically, but it [was] wrong because we did not know,” he added.
Nyoka said they were not informed of anything about the payments, how they will be coming and whose account they will be coming to. He said when they questioned about payments, Ayanda became defensive which soured their relationship, and they stopped working together in 2020.
He added that they did not receive any song share payments or royalties from 2017 until a payment of R300 000 was made into their account in 2020.
“We were topping charts and our song was number one and when we questioned her she said we must go directly to the distributor and ask them ourselves if they gave her any money,” Nyoka added.
“We can’t afford anything. This breaks our hearts. It threatens our intelligence and it undermines our talent. It has also shook our relationships with our loved ones because of one person who is manipulative and is controlling things.”
Fellow group member Manqoba Ngubane said they kept quite about their soured relations with Ayanda because they wanted to be professional.
He said: “What triggered us are the things that [she] is doing now that we have officially parted ways. We wanted to be quite for peace’s sake and then she continues to do things behind our backs to sabotage our brand. We just want justice for Abathandwa.”
Cebile Shandu added that they are not happy because she manipulated and exploited them.
“We didn’t get anything for our single. She was doing everything for herself and not for the group. We have not built at our homes, we did not do anything because of her and even now she has blocked us,” he said.
Shandu added that Ncwane used to send them random payments depending on how she felt.
“The little money she used to give us every month she has now stopped,” he said.
Abathandwa are now singed under Dondolo Music Productions and call themselves Abatandwa Musical Group (ATMG). They have also acquired the services of a new manager, experienced music executive Sina Kwepile.
Ncwane was not immediately available to comment on the latest allegations brought by her former artists. She previously told Sunday World that she parted ways with the group amicably because she wanted to focus on other things.
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