MUTARE – Mutare music promoter Esau Mupfumi has pressed fraud charges against controversial Zimdancehall star Soul Jah Love who yet again failed to perform as scheduled at The Platinum on Saturday.
Soul Jah Love had agreed to hold the show — dubbed “Chibaba baba Apology Show” to compensate for failing to turn up for another concert at the same venue three weeks ago due to drunkenness.
An angry Mupfumi claimed in an interview with the Daily News that he had incurred a $15 000 debt because of the Ndini Uya singer’s no-show.
“After apologising and agreeing to do a make-up show which we did our best to promote and incurring more costs in the process, we did not expect him to fail us again,” he said.
“What really made us angry was that he was booked for three shows on the same day. We were expecting him here but he was booked to perform in Harare and also in Beitbridge. We felt that it was a real scam and we made a police report.”
Mupfumi, a former policeman, said he was very angry because he had been “slapped in the face after giving Soul Jah Love a second chance.”
“Initially, I wanted the artiste to refund the money I had given him when he missed the first show due to drunkenness but then I decided to give him another chance to redeem himself to his estranged fans only for him to slap me in the face,” said the Mutare businessman.
Soul Jah Love has angered several music venues and promoters after failing to turn up for scheduled concerts. Last month, he was banned from performing at the Book Café after reporting three hours late for a show.
The talented chanter, who was born Soul Masaka, angered Book Café management after turning up at 11pm for a concert that was scheduled to start at 8pm.
To make matters worse Soul Jah Love refused to perform for the small crowd of 30 fans that had patiently waited for his show. The fans had to be refunded.
Thomas Brickhill, the managing director of the Book Cafe, told the Daily News then that it was a disappointment he would not want to deal with again.
“I will never book him again for shows at the Book Café as this is disappointing,” he said. – DailyNews