WOMEN’S DAY AFFRAY
The DJ, mother Mary and an ice folly
● Durban businesswoman Pria Hassan and Press Council of SA board member Mary Papayya are in a bitter stand-off after attempts to reconcile a boozy spat spiralled into claims of bribery and extortion.
At the heart of the impasse is a heated argument between Hassan and Papayya’s daughter, Carly Oosthuizen, aka DJ Carly O, which played out at a Women’s Day event at the luxury Umhlanga eatery Café La Plage on August 9.
During an exchange of alleged insults in which the DJ claimed to have been verbally abused by the businesswoman, Hassan is seen in video footage flinging an ice block in Oosthuizen’s direction. The row was over who had the rights to a VIP booth.
CCTV footage from the club shows the exchange, with Hassan later ejected from the restaurant by the manager.
In the days that followed, Papayya and Hassan met twice to bury the hatchet — with their settlement discussions now the subject of a police extortion probe.
Hassan, the executive director of Durbanbased WOA Fuels & Oils and a board member of the Businesswomen’s Association of SA, claims that Papayya, a member of the South African National Editors’ Forum council, tried to extort from her a R280,000 car sponsorship and mentorship for her daughter, in exchange for keeping the matter quiet and the media at bay.
She said in a statement issued by her lawyers and given to the Sunday Times: “I made contact with … Mary Papayya, asking for a meeting ... to resolve the matter. I made it clear that I wanted to apologise for my part in this, as the conclusions being reached and the version being published [in a diatribe by Oosthuizen on Facebook] was not a true reflection of what occurred.
“[At the meeting] Ms Papayya said I was to make amends and proceeded to make certain demands, which were confirmed in an e-mail she sent me.
“I was shocked to discover that I was now the victim of an extortion campaign to keep the spat quiet — engineered by the owners of Café La Plage, Mary Papayya and DJ Carly O, including demands for a ‘Jeep or Mercedes’ for her pain and suffering, as she allegedly lost sponsorship of such a car due to my actions.”
Reported to police
She said she reported the matter to the police. SAPS spokesperson Capt Nqobile Gwala confirmed that a case of extortion was registered on Wednesday.
“I am not proud of my reaction in the moment, and a lovely evening with my husband and friends developed into something that has become an ordeal for myself, my family and my children,” Hassan said.
“During this I have apologised for any wrongdoing on my part, but I will not be vilified for things I did not say and do. I will not be blackmailed and extorted to retain a legacy and reputation that I have worked my whole life to build.”
The Sunday Times has seen an e-mail from Papayya outlining the terms of an agreement that:
The matter would remain confidential; and
Hassan would sponsor a car for Oosthuizen.
Hassan denies that she agreed to the terms, and in later correspondence Papayya said the agreement was “null and void” because she couldn’t negotiate on her daughter’s behalf.
Nafeesa Kadwa, acting on behalf of Oosthuizen and Papayya, denied Hassan’s allegations.
“While we do not wish to deal with each and every allegation contained therein, we reserve our right/our client’s right to do [so] at the appropriate stage and forum, our failure to deal with any allegations contained therein should not be construed as an admission thereof and is accordingly denied.
“We are in correspondence with Mrs Priya [sic] Hassan’s attorney and all matters will be dealt with at the appropriate stage and forum. We will be requesting a copy of the transcript of the recording you are referring to.”
I don’t want problems
Café La Plage owner David Manal said he did not want to get involved in the matter but confirmed he had revoked a R280,000 sponsorship for the DJ until the matter was resolved.
“I told Carly, you are not allowed back at work unless you resolve this issue because I don’t want problems. I said send Pria an email. Tell her to apologise to you and say that she was wrong. I said tell Pria to contact me and ask for Carly to be reinstated because it wasn’t her [Carly’s] fault.
“Because for me as a business owner, I don’t want Carly here and I don’t want Pria here until it’s resolved.
“We were in the process of giving her [Carly] a sponsorship deal to the value of R280,000. We were going to give her a car and [pay for] a music video.”
He contacted Hassan but said she wanted Oosthuizen to take responsibility as well.
“I told her that if she says that to Carly O, she would make her more angry. She [Hassan] should just say she is sorry and that she was having fun. I told her the best way to move forward was to be honest.”
I told Carly, you are not allowed back at work unless you resolve this issue
David Manal Café La Plage owner