Charma Gal boycotts festival
Lindiwe Mozola | Thursday May 4, 2017 18:00
The already poorly attended festival did not please many as they were eager to see and hear the sensational Charma Gal perform live her new hit song, Mmokolodi.
But the award-winning musician did not perform even though she was seen at the venue during the festival.
Speaking in an interview with the show’s organiser, Moagi Rahube said that Charma Gal’s behaviour was unprofessional because they had an agreement and she was to be the highlight of the show.
“This is not the first time Charma Gal did that. Many promoters are complaining about her, even in Maun she did the same thing and ditched the show the last minute. This is uncalled for because we could have brought in another big artist such as the likes of Vee, should we have known she will behave that way,” he said.
He said that upon approaching the Sekuta Sa Ga Charma Gal hitmaker to turn up for her performance she demanded to be paid the remaining balance otherwise she was not going to performance.
“This I then found really disturbing because we did pay her the deposit prior to the performance and according to my understanding as per the agreement the remaining balance was to be paid after the performance.
He added: “Furthermore, she demanded we book her and the dancers hotel rooms to sleep in after the performance, something yet again that was never part of the agreement. However, I ended up booking the hotel and what surprised me most is that even though they failed to perform they went on to use the hotel room at my expense”.
Rahube said that he demands back the deposit paid because Charma Gal never honoured the agreement.
On their part Chama Gal’s manager, Resego Matenge said that the reason for no performance by his artists was due to some collapse in contractual accord.
He said that it is a norm or rather a music international standard that an artist, more especial big artists like Charma Gal, is paid in full before any performance, which he said Rahube failed to honour hence the main reason why his artist boycotted the show.
He added that the deposit paid by Rahube was to secure the date with Charma Gal as well as to advertise with the artist’s name.
“And there is no way we are going to pay back that deposit because it was a way of securing the date with my artist and whether she did perform or not, or the show was a flop, the deposit can never be refunded. Besides it is the one we used to cater for transport and other accessories,” he said.
When commenting on the last minute hotel booking they demanded, Matenge said that it is because the initial plan was for Charma Gal to perform in the afternoon and immediately go back to Gaborone, which was unnecessary to book a hotel.
However, seeing that the festival gained the hype, Matenge said that Rahube decided to change the time slot without informing them hence the reason they demanded such because she was to perform at night.
“This is just a clear indication that local artists are undermined and it is high time we stand up as artists and fight such unprofessionalism as well as demand for our industry to be treated with the seriousness it deserves,” Matenge added.