South African kwaito legend Ishmael Morabe has issued an ultimatum to his former boss, Arthur Mafokate. The 999 Music label owner is given a time frame to provide a detailed account of Ishmael’s royalty payments or face legal action.
According to Zimoja, the conflict started after Ishmael known for his hit songs “Roba Letheka,” “Akuna Mathata,” and “S’manje Manje,” alleged that he received only R60 000 in royalties for these chart-toppers.
Through his lawyers, Maphike Attorneys Inc. sent a letter to Arthur demanding an explanation and documents detailing royalty payments for his hit music since 2001.
The letter gives Arthur a time frame to provide information on payments made by royalty collection bodies and proof of his claim that EMI (now Sony Music South Africa) was handling royalties on Ishmael’s behalf as reported by the publication.
David Dison responded to Ishmael’s query, stating that all payments were made to Arthur Mafokate and that the projects were released globally under 999 Music and Sony Music.
Sony Music also informed Ishmael’s legal team that all royalty payments were made to 999 Music and that they could not disclose any further information.
The letter warns that failure to comply within 30 days will result in legal action to enforce Ishmael’s rights.
When contacted for comment by Zimoja he declined to speak on the matter, stating that his legal team is handling communication with 999 Music and would not appreciate him commenting.
“The issue is with my legal team who are in communication with 999. They will not be happy with me commenting on the matter,” he said.
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