Makhadzi was supposedly the festival headliner for this year's Born and Raised sixth edition slated for December 23 at Serowe Stadium.
The organisers, however, released a press statement yesterday morning that they have withdrawn Makhadzi from their lineup. According to the festival spokesperson Goaba Mojakgomo, they took a deliberate decision to withdraw the 'Go Nkga Dikuku' hitmaker due to numerous reasons.
He said one of the reasons they removed Makhadzi from their lineup is because of "her recent shenanigans of not honouring her bookings in Botswana". Adding that due to her failure to appear for her performances, the SA singer is allegedly facing lawsuits. There have been reports of alleged legal suits against the South African self-proclaimed African Queen and her management team in Botswana and her home country on the basis that she has not been attending or honouring her bookings at different music festivals.
“In light of that we have since avoided the risk of Makhadzi not showing up at our event because of the pending alleged lawsuits,” Mojakgomo said.
He elaborated that they did not want to disappoint or have to risk failing their important stakeholders including sponsors and patrons by promising them an act that might not show up, which could in turn ruin their reputation. He also reasoned that most of their patrons have expressed displeasure at her inclusion in the music festival lineup.
“So as a company that considers what our customers expect of us, we also realised that it is important that we do not include her in the lineup. Subsequent to that we are going to have an international artist who is going to fill in her space for purposes of having a competitive line-up which gives value to our customers and other stakeholders,” he added.
He recollected an incident which took place in December last year when things got out of control while Makhadzi was performing. Some patrons of the same event that Gilbert Promotions hosted, including yours truly, sustained injuries as some attendants resorted to violence to express their displeasure.
Mojakgomo shared that they do not want to be associated with such drama but would like to give their patrons the best experience at BnR. Meanwhile, the organisers have this morning revealed that rapper KO has joined the lineup. Some of the international acts include the likes of Master KG, Senior Oats, Oscar Mbo, and Johnny Mokhali. The local artist lineup comprises Vee Mampeezy, Culture Spears, Franco, and Han C.
