DJ Lady G2 Statement on Sulumani Chimbetu UK Tour 2011

On 22/03/11 I was booked by Mr Negos Bonnie Jana to play at the Sulumani Chimbetu Non-Stop Tour 2011- Leicester and Leeds shows. Having previously worked well with Mr Jana at Channel O Bar in Coventry, I did not anticipate any problems being booked by him again. The booking was subject to a 50% deposit payment in advance with the balance payable to the relevant show dates. I forwarded Mr Jana my bank account details and we agreed a date for the first payment. At this point I had never met or heard of a Tendai Janjawa/Arthur Samupindi until he called me once to try and negotiate the price I had charged Mr Jana, seemingly on Mr Jana’s behalf. I continued dealing with Mr Jana as usual about payment-related issues. Having missed the deposit payment date, I spoke to Mr Jana, who subsequently made a string of broken promises on payment dates but nothing came. In the meantime individual flyers and event pages were created on Facebook for each supporting act including myself and were told to invite all our Facebook friends and promote the tour. I also advertised weekly via my radio session every Thursday on Zimnetradio and via my website www.ladygee2.com.

On the day of the show I engaged in back and forth conversations with Mr Jana regarding my deposit which up till then had still not been paid. At times he would only answer my calls when I called with a withheld number. I explained that unless the deposit payment was made, I would not be able to attend, to which he agreed. I explained that he was he was still liable to pay me whether I attended or not, because of the extensive promotional work I had done already, their use of my name on promotional material and the opportunity cost of alternative bookings I had lost for those dates. After explaining this he then changed his mind and told me he would make arrangements to ensure I was paid in full at the show. I waited for him to make this confirmation before setting off, which he did around 9pm that night. I went on the road straight away arriving just after midnight as Sailas Chakanyuka and his band were on stage. I even catch up with the other supporting acts Jusa, Cynthia Mare and Roby Gee before Sulumani’s performance. As soon as he came off stage I did my set until the end of night and also played backing tracks for artist Ogga Elvis Kattalog.

After the show, I looked for the person who had booked me for the event, Mr Negos Bonnie Jana, for payment. He was no-where to be found and his number was going straight to voicemail. I then spotted Cliffton Dragon Bugatti (MC Dragon) who I believe was part of the organising team and asked of Mr Jana’s whereabouts and he told me he had gone. I asked MC Dragon about my payment and he told me he was going outside to look for Tendai Samupindi/Arthur Janjawa and would return in two minutes. So I waited inside the venue together with other artists, until we had to be vacated from the premises by security after he didn’t return. I looked for MC Dragon outside, he too had disappeared. One of the people I was with spotted Mr Janjawa parked in a vehicle outside and knocked on his window. As soon as he saw us he drove off, just like that. We even went to the Holiday Inn hotel where we had heard the three had gone to but no one was there. By this time none of them were answering phones so I had no choice but to go home, having wasted time, money and worked for nothing.

On arrival, I posted my experience on my Facebook page and in no time, woke up to eight missed calls from the very same people who had deserted me in Leicester and switched off their phones. They wanted me to remove the Facebook post. After dealing with Mr Negos Bonnie Jana all along and besides him booking me for the shows and reassuring that I would be paid, he began distancing himself from the whole saga saying he was not responsible, he was only Sulumani Chimbetu’s manager. In that case, I believe he should have never have been the one to book me in the first place but should have given my contacts to whoever wanted me on event, rather than tag me along and play the front for other people only to deny responsibility when things went pear-shaped. Mr Janjawa on the other hand sought to defending himself on my Facebook page before publishing a press statement in the Zimbabwe Guardian (later duplicated to various other media) denying “allegations” that I had not been paid and claiming that I was trying to tarnish his image.

Mr Janjawa embarked on a media rampage spreading blatant lies about how I arrived at 2am “in diva style trying to rearrange the programme..” which is pure nonsense as even the people in Leicester can confirm I arrived just after midnight before Sulumani went on stage and the very reason I arrived at that time was because (as I mentioned above) it took until 9pm for Mr Bonnie Negos Jana to give me confirmation to travel. There was no way I could drive from London to Leicester in one hour. Mr Janjawa’s rampage continued with false claims that I fought with other DJs and promoters over money and even more off-topic and ridiculous that he had “bought tickets for her boyfriend Major E to come to the UK to perform..”. All these things have no relevance whatsoever to me being paid. Neither do they justify him and his fellows just disappearing from the venue without paying me or giving an explanation. I have in the past worked with promoters who for some reason or another have failed to raise the full balance but have had the decency to explain their situation, honour at least part of the payment or suggest a later payment date if there were money issues. It is bad enough that I will probably never get what I worked for without adding insult to injury by telling lies and blaming your catalogue of failures on the very same people who have done nothing but helped and been of service to you.

Again contrary to Mr Janjawa’s public utterances that I was lucky to be associated with a promoter of “his stature and calibre” and that the Sulumani Chimbetu tours gave me exposure no promoter has ever given me etc. I would like to respond by saying that I actually count myself very “unlucky” to have been associate with the likes of Mr Janjawa & co. Secondly, I don't think its really necessary to disclose this but yes, I have done events of much larger scale and toured for not only the likes of Oliver Mtukudzi, Thomas Mapfumo even Winky D, Roki, M'afriq etc but also international household names. Unless it is a charity event, I am past the stage of doing things for free or compromising myself financially for the sake of exposure.

It is with regret that my friends, supporters and fans have had to share this not-so-good experience with me and I sincerely apologise to those who I invited to the shows which never took place, moreso those who purchased tickets in advance. I have written this statement to tell my side of the story as well as respond to these unfounded allegations, accusations and implications particularly by Mr Janjawa designed to discredit me for speaking the truth. At this juncture my desire is to move on from this experience and continue to do what I do best entertaining people. I would like to thank all the masses that have shown and continue to show me your love and support.

DJ Lady G2