The Chiume reputation has recently become the subject of criticism after Nongelo Chiume, son of the late actress Connie Chiume, was recently accused of deception.
A local filmmaker has accused Nongelo, who previously worked as a government spokesperson, of swindling him out of a film project which was originally said to involve the late veteran actress.
In a recent interview with the news and entertainment publication Sunday World, the filmmaker, Siyabonga Ndlozi, noted that he and Connie met in 2024, at a road show hosted by the National Film and Video Foundation, where he told her about a festival he was working on called, Umkhanyakude Student Film Festival.
At that stage, the project had been up and running with the help of community members and creatives from as far back as 2022. After pitching the idea in hopes that she would get involved, she later accepted.
“Since she was a veteran in the film industry, I felt we should honour her by renaming the project from Umkhanyakude Student Film Festival to the Connie Chiume Student Film Festival. She was excited about this, as it would help keep her legacy alive,” Siyabonga explained to the above-mentioned publication.
He explained that he later drafted a proposal to receive financial assistance in the form of R900 000 from the NFVF and had since received no response until the passing of the actress – only to later find out that his application was in fact successful.
“I then contacted Connie’s son, Nongelo Chiume, who confirmed that the NFVF had already disbursed the funds. However, he told me I would only be involved as a contractor, not the founder of the festival.
“He said I’d be paid R42,000 instead of the R900,000 I had applied for. He didn’t explain why I was excluded from my own project. I obviously rejected his offer,” said Siyabonga.
Nongelo has since acknowledged that he has received R900 000 but denied that Siyabonga was the brains behind the project, claiming that it was his mother’s idea and that Siyabonga merely filed the application.
He claims to have offered Siyabonga the option of continuing to partner with him on a freelance basis, but mentioned that this proposal was declined.
Also see: Veteran actress Connie Chiume has died
