Makhadzi demanded to apologise for ‘false claims’

Record label Open Mic says it has paid popular musician Makhadzi over R7.9 million in the three years she has been contracted with it. 

The label also claims to have paid the singer, real name Ndivhudzannyi Ralivhona, a R300 000 advance for a deposit towards her house in August 2021.

Open Mic has slapped the musician with a letter of demanding, requesting her to retract comments she made over the weekend on social media claiming that the label had not paid her a cent for her albums including Khokhova and African Queen which were released with it. 

In the letter of demand, which was sent to her legal representatives Letseku Attorneys and her personal email on Wednesday, the record label claims that the muso lied about not being paid. 

“We hold instructions that your client, Ms Ndivhudzannyi Decorate Ralivhona, has engaged in various social media tirades against our client, wherein your client published and repeated defamatory and damaging statements about our client, going as far as alleging mistreatment at the hands of our client and its representatives. These allegations are false and are denied,”

The letter continues: “Your client alleges that she is or was being treated like a “slave” and was not paid a single cent. These allegations are patently false and defamatory.”

“We annex hereto a schedule of some of the payments advanced by our client to yours, totalling an amount of R7,956,084,86 as well as another payment of R300 000 made by our client to “TW Property” under the reference ‘Makhadzi House Deposit”.

The record label gave the star until midday on Friday to retract her social media statement. 

“In light of the above, our client hereby demands an apology and retraction of the aforesaid false, harmful and defamatory statements, which must be also published through your client’s Twitter and Instagram accounts,” the letter reads.

The label also refuted her claims alleging that she was not furnished with her contract.

“We further wish to draw your attention to clause 11 of the Artist Management Agreement concluded between our respective clients, i.e. “Confidentiality Clause”, as your client is presently in breach of the aforesaid clause by discussing confidential contractual matters in the public domain without consultation or consent from our client,”

“Accordingly, we are instructed to demand, as we hereby do, that your client immediately ceases and desists from this unlawful conduct, which is ongoing and severely prejudicial to our client and for which the damage cannot be accurately quantified,”

On Saturday, Makhadzi took to her Twitter account to allege that Open Mic Productions is refusing to release her from her contract.

She alleged that the label resorted to using blackmail and intimidation tactics to keep her at the label.

She wrote: “I signed with Open Mic only for three years. In these three years I dropped four albums. I have never received any cent of my sales. Some of my album reached platinum some gold. And a lot of hits songs that reached platinum and gold but I continue to work without complaining,

“I am taking about the contract that I signed, and no one allowed to give me a copy, I worked with Open Mic without a cop of my contract ever since they said they will send it. I kept on reminding them, but no one was willing to send me my contract.”

A fortnight ago, Makhadzi announced that she has parted ways with Open Mic to open her own record label, Makhadzi Entertainment.

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Julia Madibogo