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Madlela Skhobokhobo

Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
THE curse at the Large City Hall in Bulawayo is seemingly continuing as the much-touted Uhuru Festival never took off as it was cancelled at the last minute after Professor, Madlela Skhobokhobo and Stiff pulled out.

Many shows at the venue have either flopped due to low attendance or been abandoned due to violence especially last year. One that comes to mind is the Busy Signal concert that was marred by violence or Babes Wodumo who performed in front of a handful of fans or the ZBC hosted Bulawayo artists’ promotion concert which had no fans.

Now the Uhuru Festival organised by Nqoza Entertainment over the weekend that failed to take off after the headline acts pulled out at the last minute is the latest show to fall into the curse at the Large City Hall.

A visit to the venue on the night by the Chronicle Showbiz crew revealed that there was no activity, as the stage and other things indicting that there was a show were absent.

Professor, Dr Malinga, Stiff, Madlela Skhobokhobo and Cal Vin were some of the big guns that were supposed to perform on the night.

However, Professor pulled out on Thursday, two days before the show while Stiff did the same on the day of the show.

As for Dr Malinga everything was in order with return air tickets and part of his performance fee paid according to his manager, Lawrence Netshifhefhe.

He said they were already at the airport when they got a message from Nqoza Entertainment boss Nqobizitha Ncube that they should turn back. “We were booked in advance and paid a deposit to secure the date. We work on a first come, first served basis and we turned away other shows with more money in South Africa because we wanted to fulfil the show in Bulawayo. We hadn’t performed in Bulawayo for a long time as we’re always in Harare so we really wanted to fulfil this gig,” said Netshifhefhe.

He said they were told that the concert was postponed because the promoter Nqobizitha “Nqoza” Ncube of Nqoza Entertainment, feared it could turn violent.

“In the morning we were about to check in at the airport and we got a call from the promoter telling us to turn back. He cited that he suspected that there would be violence at the show. We then found out Professor had pulled out of the show,” said Netshifhefhe.

He said although they were paid their deposit they were waiting for the rest of the money owed, as the contract they have with the promoter states.

“In the contract it states that they should pay the rest of the money seven days before the show date. We were on our way to Bulawayo regardless of the fact that there were some monies that they owed us. We were risking but we wanted to support him,” said Netshifhefhe.

Professor and Madlela pulled out because they had not been paid their performance fees, while Stiff had been given one way air tickets to travel for the show.

This according to a disappointed Diliza, Stiff’s front man, was against the policies of their handlers, Kalawa Jazmee.

“We are so disappointed. We are packed and waiting for a word from him. He gave us one way air tickets which the office as a policy refuses to release us. They don’t want a situation where we get stranded wherever we are,” said Diliza.  “So we don’t know anything as this guy has not been communicating with us.”

He said they were ready to rock the city.

Even the sound, lighting, PR and marketing team Rockers Island had not been paid.

“We’d cancelled other gigs for him and we don’t know what is happening. They had contracted us to do the PR and marketing of the event, lighting and sound, but up until now we haven’t been paid,” said Bongani Mutsau.

Another problem is whether people bought advance tickets for the show and whether they will receive a refund.

Efforts by Chronicle Showbiz to contact Nqoza since Saturday night failed .

@bonganinkunzi