Trouble comes in threes, as Phat Joe’s woes show
THINGS are going from bad to worse for radio personality Phat Joe.
First his domestic worker took him to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration for unfair dismissal after he allegedly fired her via SMS. Then he was suspended from Metro FM for an on-air rant about colleague Bonang Matheba.
Now Heart 104.9FM presenter and Top Billing voice-over artist Tapfuma Makina is suing Phat Joe (real name Majota Kambule) after he borrowed money from him for a failed mobile radio project.
Makina’s lawyer, Barry Varkel, said Kambule and a business partner solicited a R150 000 loan from Makina in September 2012 at a sliding interest rate of 15% to 35% over 12 months.
According to the loan agreement, the money would be invested in a mobile radio service that would provide “niche music” to MTN subscribers. The full amount was repayable by September 30 2013 with interest, but Kambule failed to pay.
He asked for an extension to repay the debt before January 31 2014. That date also came and went, prompting Makina to launch legal action in December last year.
The sheriff served Kambule with a summons on February 22. Makina is demanding his money and interest, adding up to more than R270 000.
Speaking through Varkel, Makina said: “I had other investment opportunities I missed where I could have had great returns in the last three years.”
MTN confirmed this week that it signed a “standard content aggregation agreement” with Kambule’s company, Kylax Trading and Investments Media, last year.
But the cellphone group distanced itself from the loan. “MTN is exploring the feasibility of this product with the parties concerned from a technical perspective. MTN is not aware of any funding beyond this agreement.”
Meanwhile, Kambule is due to appear before the CCMA on March 14 to face a claim of unfair dismissal for allegedly firing his domestic worker of five years, Nontembiso Vumazonke, by SMS.
Sindiswa Ningiza, provincial organiser for the South African Domestic Services and Allied Workers’ Union, said: “We want to expose him for what he is. He is an entertainer but he abuses the same audience that he makes a living out of. We will not rest until the worker receives what is due to her.”
In January, Kambule and co-host Pearl Thusi were suspended from Metro FM for an on-air rant about Matheba. The suspension was lifted last week.
Kambule failed to respond to questions from the Sunday Times this week .