WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-03-15 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
By Bronwynne Jooste
Mounting claims of unpaid bills, a tangled web of business connections and legal woes are being levelled against embattled local tour promoter Duncan Heafield of Kusasa.
The company has faced a barrage of criticism, first for the recent disastrous Celine Dion concerts in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg and now for the indefinite postponement of a tour by Josh Groban.
Heafield has denied the allegations and believes it’s all a plot by other tour promoters to discredit him.
| ‘Business is business’ |
But angry staff at companies who worked with Heafield’s previous company, 3 C Africa, said they were still awaiting payment years after services were rendered.
Allie Jaffer, who works for Cape-based Invent Infrastructure, said they had provided tables, crockery and other utensils for a cellphone launch that 3 C Africa had organised in 2005. They were still owed R60 000.
Bloemfontein-based catering company, Encore Functions and D(233)écor, this week started legal action against Kusasa in relation to an unpaid debt of R39 000. The costs were incurred during the Michael Bolton and Westlife tour, which took place last March.
Company owner Corlia Brown said getting her money from Kusasa had been a constant battle. The original bill was R106 000, and Brown said she first went to her lawyers after Kusasa started dragging its feet to pay her.
“My lawyers contacted Duncan’s lawyers, and then Duncan called me and asked to me stop the legal action. We reached an agreement where he would pay me off. I got the last payment in January this year, but I’m still owed R39 000. I went to my lawyer this week, so I’ll have to see what happens,” said Brown.
She said Kusasa had taken three months to pay her company when it worked on the Unite the Stars concert in 2006.
“Business is business. We are a small company and we need our capital,” said Brown.
Another industry insider, who did want to be named, said Heafield was known in the industry for having a “poor payment policy”.
The source added that those in the industry knew the Dion concert would be a “train smash” before it took place.
“Anyone who thought it was going to go off smoothly was living in a dream world.”
He said because the industry was extremely money-driven, many were able to overlook a company’s conduct.
“Everyone wants a piece of this massive money-spinning machine, but I think people who go into business with others who operate in a disorderly way are just as guilty.”
Reports surfaced from Dubai this week that Heafield had been arrested in connection with unpaid bills. He was in that country as Dion completed that leg of her world tour.
But Heafield told Weekend Argus there was “not a shred of proof” that he was arrested in Dubai.
He said he was aware of Jaffer’s allegations and was waiting for Jaffer to forward him the necessary documentation.
He was also hesitant to acknowledge his company’s reputation had been tainted by the Dion and Groban incidents.
“If you analyse it, Celine did nine shows in South Africa, and there were problems at only two of those shows. That number of shows is a bench-mark, that cannot be compared to other promoters,” he said.
But industry insiders said they were not surprised when Groban’s anticipated tour was cancelled, one week before it was set to kick off in Durban.
Penny Stein Promotions, which deals with Groban’s South African publicity, said they had decided to postpone the tour because Kusasa was not meeting its obligations.
There is talk that industry stalwart and owner of Big Concerts, Attie van Wyk, will be taking over from Kusasa, but this has not been confirmed.
Heafield admitted Kusasa was not able to offer guarantees that the Groban tour would not be a repeat of the Dion fiasco.
“They wanted alternative plans, so that there was no risk of the problems experienced at the Celine Dion concerts. But there was simply not enough time (to put that in place) before the tour started.”
It now appears that Kusasa itself is cloaked in mystery.
While newspaper reports refer to the company as Kusasa Entertainment South Africa, Heafield said the company’s official name was Kusasa Commodities South Africa. The director of Kusasa Entertainment South Africa, Johanna Bester, died late last year.
Heafield distanced himself from this company, but when Weekend Argus called its offices, an employee said Heafield was the director.