MASKANDI artists are at war with Zulu Princess Londiwe Ngcamu.
At the heart of the fight is how artists booked to perform at the wedding of Prince Simakade Zulu and Londiwe Nkosi were allegedly treated. The wedding took place in Mtubatuba, northern KZN, on Saturday 8 January.
Maskandi artists claim they were invited but were sidelined at the last minute. Buselaphi Gxowa, who co-ordinated the artists, told Daily Sun they were supposed to be part of the wedding but Princess Londiwe ignored them when they arrived.
“We were invited by the Zulu royal house. My duty was to find artists who could perform. I had to co-ordinate the travelling arrangements and negotiate booking fees,” she said.
“I did all that and on Saturday, artists from Durban and Joburg all left for Mtubatuba. Our agreement was we would be paid at the venue. As we were on the way, Princess Londiwe switched off her phone and we could not get hold of her. We then decided to cancel the trip and go back home.
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“On behalf of artists, I am now complaining to the Zulu Royal House to deal with her. We incurred unnecessary costs and we are demanding our money for the booking.” Artist Zah Mngoma from AmaYellowbone said they never discussed a booking fee and were told they would be paid in cash at the venue.
“We were already approaching the venue when Buselaphi told us to go back to Durban because she couldn’t get hold of the princess.”
However, the princess denied misleading the artists.
“I never invited them. Instead, they phoned me and volunteered to perform. We agreed that the artists from Joburg would be paid R5 000 and the ones from Durban would get R2 000,” she said.
“I informed them that the signal was very bad at the venue and if they could not get hold of me, they must go straight to the venue. Unfortunately, no one arrived.”
She said she was still willing to pay the artists petrol money.
