Mist over South African organised local festival
Mist surrounds the credibility of a planned music event being championed by two South African nationals dubbed Summer Music Festival.
According to promotional posters being shared on various social media platforms, the show will take place on December 22 at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe and is expected to feature South Africa’s Mafikizolo, comedian Shorty alongside several local music acts.
However, our random checks with a number of local acts on the performers list established that since the organisers of the show contacted them, no follow-up has been made, neither have they fulfilled the agreed bargain.
One of the groups appearing on the promotional posters Malawi’s Wailing Brothers, through their manager Duffy Chikakuda, in an interview yesterday cast doubt on the credibility of the event as the people behind it are failing to honour their word.
He said: “These guys are fake. They just booked us, but there is nothing on the ground. I doubt if this show is on. Maybe if you can contact them they will tell you the truth.”
Chikakuda said the organisers also approached his company CoolPro Entertainment to promote the show but he pulled out after they failed to give him with money as per their agreement.
Another local group, Black Missionaries have also distanced themselves from the show. Band leader Anjiru Fumulani said they are just as surprised that their name is appearing on the posters for the December 22 show but they are not aware of it.
“We had contact with them for a show which they indicated will take place on December 7. The posters they made showed that we will perform alongside Zahara but since then they never got back to us. The dates they are mentioning for their show, we are fully booked,” he said.
Other artists who are appearing on the poster such as Kell Kay, Macelba and Phyzix have also cast doubton the event saying the conduct of the organisers has left them with so many questions.
When we contacted Civo Service Stadium club manager Jameson Kadoda to confirm if any booking for the event had been made, he sounded surprised, saying they are not aware of anything.
He said: “This is a scam boss. As Civo Club, we are not part of this. I do not know anything about this event.”
The organisers, trading under the name World Entertainers South Africa, have been identified as Thuli Denver and Cleo. But our Internet search of the name of the company did not yield any results.
In a WhatsApp interview from South Africa, Denver said that they are aware of the rumuors making arounds as regards the show, but he insisted that come December 22, the event will take place as announced.
He admitted that preparations for the event have been dogged by the last minute pulling out of Airtel Malawi whom they were close to having an agreement with to help them pay for the venue and the artist fees.
When put to him if the time they have between now and the show is enough to finalise all the logistical arrangements, Denver said: “I am not worried about the time boss. We can finalise everything in time. People are excited about the show and I am receiving calls every day.”
Musicians Union of Malawi (MUM) acting president Gloria Manong’a has since advised artists to inform them about any agreements they make with event promoters so that they can act as an intermediary when something sinister happens .
