Multi-award winning Afro-pop musician Zahara is locked in a money spat with her former management company executives, TS Records’ TK Nciza and Sbu Leope.
Zahara has alleged to the Dispatch that she was underpaid for her performances, the sale of her records, and royalties for when her songs were aired.
She made specific claims about her monster 2011 debut album Loliwe, which she said sold more than 500,000 copies.
Both Zahara and Nciza confirmed that they had worked together on three albums, Loliwe, Phendula and Country Girl.
During a telephonic interview on Tuesday, Nciza laughed off Zahara’s financial claims.
He said her top three albums combined could not have made the amount she was claiming.
“Now that things are going bad she wants to make an excuse and point fingers.”
When asked how much money was made in total by the company from sales of Zahara’s three albums, Nciza said: “I can’t give you the figure from the top of my head.”
He denied all the allegations, saying there was no way he could have misappropriated Zahara’s royalties as they were paid by another big-name company’s royalty department.
But the artist, whose real name is Bulelwa Mkuthukana, said: “I want my money back, all of it. Many artists suffer in silence, suffer depression and ultimately die paupers. I won’t be a statistic. I will speak out.”
Zahara first made the allegations on an afternoon radio show on Monday.
She told the Dispatch: “Many artists are embarrassed to even return home or call for help after people are done with us.”
Zahara said she left TS Records in 2016.
Nciza said TS records had not received any legal documents from Zahara. “We are waiting for her to serve us. She has been threatening us and seeking public sympathy.”
malibongwed@dispatch.co.za..