Dancer and musician Zintle Kwaaiman recently shared her distasteful experience with a Durban July organiser where she was not supplied equipment to perform and ended up not being paid for a gig she was booked for.
Hailing from the Eastern Cape, the artist arrived at the event in Durban and contacted the organiser letting him know that she had arrived. Prior to her arriving at the event, they had spoken about her quotation where she told the organiser that she would come with her team.
Upon her arrival at the event without her team, who she says were still on the way; the organiser said he could only go to the gate once, so if they were not there with her they would not be able to gain access to the event. Zintle said in a live video she shared on her Facebook page, she had no chair and had to stand between tables while she had high heels on.
The Uxolo Nothando hitmaker known for her energetic performances, said she was supposed to perform in the early hours of the morning. However, the organisers changed things, claiming that the performances were delayed by 30 minutes.
“When it was my time to perform, I was told to hand over my USB to a DJ who was going to come on stage after me. And that he was going to play for me. I waited by the stage while he played his music.
“Because he continued, I went on stage, took the mic and tried to prepare the audience, but the mic was down. When I asked him to open the mic, he said he did not control the mic. That is when I packed my stuff and booked an Uber ride,” narrated Zintle.
Speaking to Sunday World, the organisers said; “I can confirm that Zintle was booked to perform. If she was not allowed to perform, that is probably a stage management issue. The event was delayed, so we were trying to squeeze all the artists in.”
They assured the artist would receive payment in a few days.
Also see: KZN artists say they felt sidelined at the Durban July
