Spurned Arthur wants R1.5m
Muso claims Nampak broke contract for show Duo driven by spiritual calling to heal via music
Kwaito king Arthur Mafokate is demanding a whopping R1,5m from packaging company Nampak for breach of contract.
Mafokate’s company, Roadshow Marketing, signed an agreement with Nampak subsidiary Bevcan three years ago to organise activations called Can Do! Turn Up Tours for the multinational.
But earlier this year, the multimillion rand contract was taken away from Mafokate and awarded to TV producer Mandla “Mandla N” Ngcongwane’s company, Black Brain Pictures.
In a letter sent to Nampak by his lawyers, Werksmans Attorneys, in September, Mafokate cried foul and claimed that he had lost R1.5m in profit and had also incurred certain expenses as a result of Nampak’s conduct. “The Roadshow was due to start with the Turn Up Tours in May 2016 and it could not do so because Nampak advised it of its financial constraints at that time,” reads the letter.
“Flowing from the agreement between the parties, Roadshow had organised for storage of the equipment used in co-ordination of the Turn Up Tours and had appointed a graphic designer to assist with the designs of the stage.”
Mafokate also said the agreement stood as it was supposed to have been terminated only after all activations had been successful.
“Nampak’s conduct has precluded Roadshow from doing so and resulted in Roadshow losing out on making a R1,5m profit. In our law, contractual obligations need to be fulfilled, Nampak cannot simply ignore its obligations in terms of the contract to the prejudice of Roadshow,” reads the letter.
Also at the heart of the dispute was the 15% deducted by Nampak from the undisclosed payment that was due to Roadshow for its alleged failure to comply with the requirements of the Dorothy Nyembe event in 2014.
He demanded that Nampak provide him with criteria which he didn’t comply with in the event.
In a letter of reply on Thursday, Nampak legal advisor Omeshnee Pillay, said they would pay all the expenses Mafokate had incurred, provided he sent them invoices and returned the company’s marketing material.
Pillay also refuted Mafokate’s claims that he suffered a R1,5m profit loss after being precluded from concluding the Turn Up Tours.
“The only events which were not completed were the Can Do Tours in Limpopo and the Free State. However, an amount of R1,050,000 was paid to Roadshow on [14/01/2016], amounting to 70% of the total for these two events. The amount of R1,050,000 was subsequently allocated to the Turn Up events and an amount of R450,000 was paid to Roadshow on 15 October 2016, being the difference owed in respect of the Turn Up events ... this resulted in R1,500, 000 being paid for the Turn Up events,” reads the letter. Mafokate declined to comment. Popular house music duo Black Motion is not only making music for the entertainment of their fans but use the art form to fulfil their spiritual calling.
The pair from Soshanguve in Tshwane raised eyebrows about its spiritual powers when they released yet another album that draws heavily from the ancestors.
Thabo “Smol” Mabogwane and Robert “DJ Murda” Mahosana released their fifth album last month titled Moya Wa Taola, which means “spirit of the divining bones”.
Smol claims that he has an ancestral calling which doesn’t need him to be a sangoma but instead it channels him to heal broken hearts and souls using his African drums.
“Some people are channeled to use water as a healing agent, some use soil and others use trees. I am channeled to the drum,” he said. “Although we are very spiritual, we do not need to consult before playing, everything just happens the moment we sit together and touch our equipment.”
He said that the calling helps him play his drums in a way that transfers spiritual healing to their audience.
“There are people who need to unlock their spiritual gifts and we help them to do that.”
Smol spoke about an “amazing” experience that he once witnessed while performing at a concert in the UK.
“There was this white guy who said he had his roots in Nigeria. He was doing some unnatural dances while we were on stage. After the performance he came backstage to tell us that he had a vision in which he saw his grandmother who told him to let go. Only to find that the guy was depressed, and he told us he felt lighter after the performance.
“These are things that inspire us, we are honestly not after just entertaining the flesh but the spirit,” he said.
In the album, they once again take the listener to another world through their haunting African drums, rhymes and other unconventional instrumental beats.
In the track Little Blue Girl, featuring Miss P, they are paying tribute to Nina Simone, a jazz artists who was known for her deep spirituality.
The 12-track album also features artists such as Mafikizolo, Lady X and praise poet Morwangwato Hlakudi.
“Morwangwato went for his spiritual initiation school immediately after recording with us. He told us that he felt drums unlock what he had inside and Black Motion feels blessed.”