Valentine’s Day the D-day for ‘uShuni Womhlaba’ creator after winners wait for full payments

Like a lover who needs to make right their wrongs of the festive season, uShuni Womhlaba creator Thabo Mphelo has promised to remedy the payment dispute on the reality music show by Valentine’s Day.

“I wrote them an email and letters and told them that it will not be later than 14 February, it’s no longer going to be in portions, but it’s going to be a single payment,” executive producer of uShuni Womhlaba, Mphelo told The Citizen.

Mphelo is the founder of Thabo Mphelo Films (TMF) which produced uShuni Womhlaba’s first season.

The TV show is premised on finding the best talent in three Mzansi music genres: Maskandi, Scathamiya and Mbaqanga.

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uShuni’s delayed payments

uShuni Womhlaba wrapped up in October last year, when Gqeberha primary school bus driver Thandikhaya Magayiyana, better known as Joliza Bhacasoul, was announced as the winner.

Joliza bagged half a million rand for her victory.

Second-placed Lindo Jay Music (Lindokuhle Mthimunye) won R300,000, and Gudaazi (Mthobisi Gudazi) was placed third, with R200,00 in winnings.

The trio were promised their winnings in three instalments relative to the money they won. The first of the three instalments was at the end of November, which they all received.

Joliza was paid R150,000, R100,000 was deposited to Lindo Jay Music, and third-placed Gudazi received his R50,000.

The next round of payment was supposed to come on December 31st, but it didn’t.

The last payment was meant for the end of January, but the three winners reached the end of the first month of 2025, still having only received the November payment.

In emails seen by The Citizen, the contestants sent Mphelo communication on January 9th enquiring about the paucity of the December payment as promised.

In response, the producer promised to make things right by January 17th.

But speaking to this publication on the first Monday of February, Mphelo said he hasn’t been able to get funds but is hopeful of meeting the self-imposed deadline of Valentine’s Day.

“The money I was raising, I didn’t get for the 31st December. I said they would get it on the 31st of January, but it didn’t come through,” said Mphelo.

Thabo Mphelo Films is an experienced production company that has previously produced TV shows such as Jika Majika, Zaziwa, Daily Thetha and One Mic for the SABC.

“I’ve never had a financial challenge like this. It has hit me hard, and I’m asking myself if I had to do this show,” Mphelo shared.

The show was marred by controversy before its first broadcast.

Last year, The Citizen reported on Zasuka Entertainment, which was co-owned by the late Mbongeni Ngema, accusing the SABC of colluding with Mphelo’s production company to steal the idea of the TV show.

Zasuka Entertainment’s idea is a TV show titled Zasuka Traditional Music Talent Search By Mbongeni Ngema.

In January, Soul Brother co-founder Moses ‘Black Moses’ Ngwenya, who was a judge on uShuni Womhlaba, went to the media to complain about non-payment for his work on the show.

“Everybody that participated on the show has been paid, it’s a few only remaining,” Mphelo told The Citizen.

Ngwenya has since been paid.

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Potential partners pulling out

Mphelo said the source of his financial adversities is that the SABC does not commission the show; instead, it is a presale-licensed show.

“It means you [as show creator] go look for finance,” said Mphelo.

In this content acquisition method, the SABC can enter into a license agreement with a producer before the programme is completed or is still in development, which is what happened with uShuni Womhlaba.

The public broadcaster expects the show creators to provide a comprehensive proposal, including a funding model, as the SABC does not contribute 100% of the production budget under this method.

In his budget through his production company, Mphelo forecasted the production costs to be around R24 million but could only raise half of that amount.

In emails explaining the financial issues, Mphelo said that the head sponsor, Telkom, contributed R8 million while the public broadcaster chipped in R4 million.

In the same emails, the producer said he expected two other partners to fund the project, but those pulled out.

The prospective funders who pulled out are the Road Accident Fund (RAF) and KwaZulu-Natal Tourism.

“The elections changed everything,” said Mphelo.

In an email, Mphelo said KZN Tourism’s merger with the KZN Film Commission last year meant they couldn’t participate in the first season of the TV show, and RAF said they would consider committing to the second season.

Telkom neither denied nor confirmed the amount of their contribution to the first season of the show.

“We have been made aware of concerns raised regarding payments involved in the production of uShuni Womhlaba,” the telecommunication company said to The Citizen in a statement.

“We deeply value the contributions of all individuals and businesses who worked to bring this extraordinary production to life, and we are currently engaging with TMF to encourage a swift resolution.”

The public broadcaster did not respond to this publication’s questions.

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First season challenges

“We had challenges, and the production was tight. I made changes to the show while we were in production,” Mphelo said.

In the emails, Mphelo said the show’s last five episodes were supposed to be shot in KZN, but they were shot at a different location because of the changes.

The contestants sent a joint email to the SABC and Telkom for their intervention.

The winning trio said they’d only respond to The Citizen’s questions after Mphelo’s promised deadline.

“I wouldn’t want to speak about our stakeholders. I’m taking full responsibility. I could’ve worked harder,” said the producer.

Mphelo expressed his stress but said he was trying to remain positive.

“We’re raising funds; we’re working on various options. We’re very close to settling this issue. To raise funds is not easy.”

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