PSL deal: casualties to follow

This PSL/SuperSport/SABC thing must end now, it’s gone on for too long. Not as long as the civil servant’s strike but damn near close!

First casualty, Mr Robert Marawa. The poor oke’s sin? Interviewing the CEO of SuperSport Imtaz Patel on his Metro FM (SABC owns Metro) show about the whole saga the day after interviewing PSL chairman Irvin Khoza and SABC Group CEO Dali Mpofu. Well at least that was the reason he was given by the powers-that-be. My first thought? Journalistic uhm, integrity? You remember him? Ethics, balanced reporting, get many sides of the story, that sort of old-fashioned stuff that kept the likes of Drum going in its heyday? Word is, for a while the SABC has been looking at getting rid of the multi-award-winning sports presenter because he works for both SABC and SuperSport. Anyway, what do I know, I’m just a blogger.

So the other day they had Irvin Khoza telling the world how much his group was getting paid for making this deal happen. Now understand this is a billion rand issue and someone is getting paid no matter what. Figures that have been thrown about hover around R30 million for each of Irvin Khoza, Kaizer Motaung and others involved in putting this thing together. That’s not a lot of money mind you: commission on a billion amounts to hundreds of millions of rand. The issue some people had was that these gents were conducting normal day-to-day business as expected of them in their PSL hats, and so they had no rights to earn a commission on the deal as if they were acting as independent contractors. As far as I know, they ARE independent contractors to the PSL; they only work full-time on their respective clubs, not for the PSL. Even if I’m wrong, I know in publishing for instance, that eve full-time staff whose jobs don’t include selling, that bring in advertising from time to time, also get commission from those sales they make.

Business is business and someone will make money here. And it’s not like they are getting rewarded with government, and hence public funds. This is SuperSport shareholders’ money. It reminds me of the R7 million controversy that had SAFA president Molefi Oliphant in a perpetual spin of denial and acceptance of the money for his role in bringing the World Cup to Mzansi. Again, Oliphant was entitled to that money, or even more! Do you know how much it costs to stage a World Cup? Everyone wants a piece, and for someone to contribute towards bringing it to their country as did those gents including Danny Jordaan, it took years of toil, endless trips and possibly lots of “gifts” to FIFA executives all over the planet. Take the money I say! Take it and run. No casualties here.

Second possible casualty? Advocate Mpofu himself. Apart from the fact that the ANC Youth League is calling for his resignation, he certainly needs a good look at his SABC Sport executive team. Before we even talk about the PSL rights which they lost, these are the same folks that again, let Marawa leave MTN Soccer Zone. What happened as soon as they did that? The once-popular Monday night football show not only lost hordes of viewers but they lost their primary sponsor as well. I don’t care how you feel about Marawa personally, but the man is bankable. To just let him go without a fight is just plain stupid. It is bad business. I’m not so sure Discovery will stick around to sponsor his former sports show on Metro, without the anchor.

So, SABC Sport and Mpofu himself will have to answer to the SABC board as well as to Parliament as to HOW they could let this happen. Were they really caught napping? Were they basking in the “entitlement” trap, thinking the PSL automatically belongs to the public broadcaster? Evidence of this comes from the fact that they did not even submit a tender for the rights as requested. Only SuperSport, etv and Telkom did. Telkom is launching their own satellite TV service soon.

Or was it that the SABC simply could not afford the asking fee?

A "Gang" and a rapper to attack AIDS

According to information I received this morning, music fans are about to be treated to some awesome kwaito and hip-hop at the turn of August. On 01 September stars Mandoza, Pitch Black Afro, Gang of Instrumentals, Tuks and Mafikizolo will be performing at the Johannesburg Stadium for a concert called 4 One Nation. The aim of the concert is to raise funds for various HIV/AIDS projects.

Elana Afrika from 5fm will host the concert, which is the first of several planned for the whole country. I wish this could be taken quite seriously and that people go out and support these initiatives. Tickets are available at Computicket.

I remember in my own youth when we used to have those kwaito concerts sponsored by the likes of Benson & Hedges and Peter Stuyvesant? Remember? Arthur, Bongo Maffin, M’du, Thebe, Joe Nina, Boom Shaka, Trompies, it was hot! This time around though, without being a hater, I’m not sure how Mandoza and Pitch Black made it to the list. They aren’t exactly on heat at the moment; I mean the last time either had a real hit was with “Godoba” and “Ntofontofo” respectively. GoI and Mafikizolo are not exactly kwaito or hip-hop, but they are still good for crowds. Tuks is just plain hot. That SAMA-winning boy is on fire.

Hopefully during the later concerts we’ll see people like Trompies, the evergreen Arthur and his ever-young shadows, L’Vovo, Pro Verb, HHP and so on. Come on sponsors, put some thrust into it, let’s get the crowds to support this in numbers. Without the correct acts on stage, very few will come.

You can help Darfur

Folks, this is an open letter from my pal Tumi. He's a world-recognised musician who excels in the art of rapping to convey his messages. I haven't edited this letter at all in case I lose its meaning somewhere so Tumza, if there are spelling mistakes here my man, forgive a brother!

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An open letter from Tumi
For Space, for Dignity, for Recognition, for Survival, for Darfur

Peace folks,
Since 2003 the Darfur region in Sudan has been plunged into a bloody and disturbing conflict that has seen 200,000 people killed and 2 million displaced according to U.N figures. The conflict has many interwoven causes; from the structural inequality between the centre of the country around the Nile and the peripheral areas such as Darfur, to environmental calamity, political opportunism and also absurd Arab-African regional politics. The cause of the conflict is not the purpose of this letter. It is the devastating effects of the conflict that drive me to this point. In scenes frightfully resembling Rwanda, villages have been depopulated, looted, burnt to the ground, non-combatants have suffered dismemberment and brutal killings at the hand of militias. Rape has also been employed as a weapon in this conflict, women are raped in the open to humiliate them as they are ostracized and culturally considered unclean.

"ITS HAPPENING AGAIN, ARE WE GOING TO JUST MAKE MOVIES ABOUT IT ONCE THE MURDERERS HAVE THEIR FILL''

For the longest time I thought, these things get sorted out by governments and leaders with the profile of Kofi Annan and that all i could do about it is pray that my government was somehow involved in trying to secure a lasting peace agreement that could be honored by the warring parties. For others the apathy is a worsening illness that sees many desensitized to a chilling numbness by daily world news reports of deaths, bombings, political corruption and famines. What is doubly troubling about this situation is the reaction from some sections of the international community, which can be described as minimal at best and anti-human at worst, following the Sudanese government in calling cries of genocide as overreactions and exaggerations. Well folks, the difference between war crimes and genocide matter little to one who tends to a mass grave.

URGENT ACTION NEEDED

In light of the coming rain season, access to the camps most of the internally displaced people inhabit will be severely limited and will leave them cut off from aid. Also the rains will foster a breeding ground for diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, measles, meningitis and malaria. Aid workers have made an urgent appeal for funds to alleviate the hardships of the coming months. Humanitarian organizations have been in Sudan saving lives despite the remoteness of the region and continued instability. There are people doing much to raise the awareness of this humanitarian crisis, through websites, rallies and even organized boycotts of countries violating a U.N arms embargo on Sudan. Even the so-called 'token' African Union peacekeeping force, which with no clear mandate to protect citizens, is out there doing their bit and being targeted by the militia.

WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY DO?

I am not a soldier, nor am I an aid worker. I am an artist making music inspired greatly by the beauty and troubled disturbances of this soil. I would like to extend my voice to fellow artist, musicians, painters, poets, producers, promoters, media personalities, radio stations, T.V programs, big business, small business, party leaders, city leaders, regional leaders, national leaders but especially the artist, particularly the musician. I have always believed the musician is as powerful if not more powerful than some political leaders. Some of your work exists as a force of nature to transform, cleanse, destroy, and resurrect. You carry favor with the people, they love you because you speak to them and about them. You help them rejoice, cry, protest, live, survive even die. To use the power of your talent not as an elitist license that separates us as people above society or people outside society, I appeal especially to you brothers and sisters. I propose an event that will utilize our creative talents to draw the masses and business' attention to the plight of the people of Darfur. An event that will see a united musical community gather in solidarity with the people of Sudan and help our own country understand the severity of the situation in Darfur, help raise not just the awareness but the funds needed in this difficult time. And it is true that in our own country we have problems that need desperate attention, from the scourge of H.I.V to the debilitating poverty. Problems on our soil that have seen countless countries support us in the past, countries with their own problems and issues but who understand their duty as citizens of the world. I appeal to you, be for space, for dignity, for recognition, for survival, for Darfur.
Peace.

Bouga Luv ready to run for charity

“Run Bouga run!” Sounds like a line from Forrest Gump, but it’s not. It’s Kabelo running the Comrades Marathon again, for charity again. Ever since Bouga turned the other cheek he’s been doing all these amazing things with his life, things I would never ever have associated with him say, in 1999 for instance.

Last year he helped raise about R250 000 for the charities he chose to support. This year he hasn’t reached that amount yet so he’s asking that we help him out by telling people about his efforts of trying to raise money for a charity that supports recovering drug addicts. Another great cause. I heard him on Yfm with Lee and AK, then on Metro FM speaking to Glen last week, and saw him on etv this morning. The boy is in seriously good shape and he should be ready to take on Poly Shorts. His time last year was just shy of 11 hours, which is quite good for a novice who happens to be a rich and famous kwaito artist. So R10 it costs per SMS to his line.

I think I was left with R15 in my phone balance this morning and I probably could have sacrifised the R10 for a good cause. After all, charity IS charity and often I donate to various charities myself. That was until it hit me that Bouga Two Shoes is a member of Rhema Bible Church, and that his chosen charity is a branch of his church! “What’s wrong with that?” I hear you ask. Nothing. Ok, one thing. Pastor Ray McCauley, leader of the church, is a multi-millionaire. Now without going into much more detail, for me it just sounded like Bill Gates going on a campaign for people to donate money to his “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation”, which does excellent research and charity work all over the world, including Mzansi. Except Gates can afford to give his own money away, or at least some of it. I believe so can Pastor Ray.

For artists like Kabelo to highlight important societal issues is vital for our survival. For him to run for charity is certainly commendable. It just seems to me Pastor Ray, whom I know is running several charitable programmes already, should be giving a bit more than what he has so far. Bouga Luv should not be running short of his targets.

Thandiswa recording: part two

Gallo Record Company yesterday announced that Thandiswa is back working at the studio on her second CD. After the success of Zabalaza it must be said that anticipation of the sophomore has already started growing.

The CD is due for release in October and Thandiswa hopes to work with Me’Shell Ndegeocello as one of the collaborators. She will also serve as co-producer with Sipho Sithole, the man credited with signing Skwatta Kamp to Gallo while he was still deputy CEO. I do believe Thandiswa has immense talent when it comes to song and over the years she has proven this over and over again with Bongo Maffin, BOP and other projects she has supported. Not particularly known as a hard worker, some of her colleagues always complain about her lateness to show up in studio, and as one who has chased her for interviews before, I can testify to that too.

The other strange thing about some artists is their tendency to leave their tried-and-tested label producers when seeking solo sounds. I didn’t mention any of the KaLaWa Jazmee crew in my production credits because I’m told so far none of them have been confirmed to work on the Thandiswa project. Why is that? Is it a case of her looking for a different sound? Surely a company able to produce a range of sounds, from house to kwaito to hip-hop to Afro beats can make a “different” sound? Or is there another reason?

My own personal thought, informed only by experience, is that Thandiswa just wants more control of her sound, thereby gaining a better representation of herself through music, and ultimately controlling any musician’s lifeblood on her own: the mighty royalties. You see at KaLaWa, teamwork overrides individual stardom, something you’ll notice on their cover sleeves “produced by the DCC”. The DCC includes Mandla “Spikiri”, Zaine “Mahoota”, Oscar, Bruce and Don Laka. Now imagine having to share all that royalty cash with so many other peeps. It’s like being part of Skwatta Kamp!

The Lion IS King!

I was in high school when I first saw The Lion King movie. And it was in isiZulu nogal! It was the first time since Rocky 4 (the scene where Carl Weathers’ character Apollo Creed gets killed in the ring by Dolph Lundgren’s, Captain Ivan Drago) that I cried while watching a movie. As a young teen boy growing up you still have the whole “I’m the man/tigers don’t cry issue”. What got my tears flowing in The Lion King was that whole act when Mufasa, Simba’s father gets run over by a herd of migrating buffalo. Yo, that was some real sad stuff! That movie went on to gross over US$700 million the world over – and still counting -, which it thoroughly deserved for a job well done.

The stage production I must confess, didn’t give me cause to flap my wings in anticipation when I first heard about it. There was Lebo M, there was Duma ka Ndlovu, holding auditions at the Bassline in Newtown, downtown Jozi towards the end of 2006. In my mind an international production of this magnitude should have at least been auditioned at the Civic or Market or even the State Theater in Pretoria. But what I saw on stage two weeks ago (since I’m not Thamzn Mandela I didn’t make last week’s red carpet event with all the rest of the African VIPs) made me realise that I had fallen for the “hate myself” trap that I always deplore in other people. Sure a number of well-knowns are in there, namely Sello Maake ka Ncube (Archie, Generations) who plays Simba’s dad Mufasa, Zoë Mthiyane (songbird discovered on Coca Cola Pop Stars), Simba's mom, and Mark Rayment who plays Scar and has played that character in the London production as well. But the bulk of the actors are unknown, yet you couldn’t tell from the way they pull it all off. Rafiki’s character for example is one of the funniest, along with of course Timone and Pumba, while Scar looks even more menacing than he was in the animated movie. The lady who plays Rafiki is a real find. That girl has enough in her gut to put any Idols finalist to shame. The discovery of the young Simba was a great job also, although the little one sings a bit better than he can act, while an even better job was done with his little girl friend. Ncube can act, we know, but I had no clue that he could sing too. And I say this as someone who lives with an opera singer! We laughed our asses off, shed a small tear during THAT scene (y’all know which one!), laughed again and again and almost got up to dance along. Brilliant. And no, I don’t work for Lebo M!

Tickets cost between R150 for the “extra strong” seats and R450 for the upper-crust “I can even smell the hyenas’ bad breath from here” front rows.

The Lion King is an amazing production, with extremely creative costumes, a believable cast of professionals, set in an African theatre at Monte Casino. That is the way it should always have been.

Your chance to be an Idol

The world’s biggest music talent search show is coming back on the telly. Yippee.

Excuse my enthusiasm, which is hidden behind that sarcastic last remark. We know the show is hilarious, often unearthing more standup comedians than it does talented singers. Yet, how many of us can name three past Idols winners? Sure Heinz Winckler is the easy one; he was the first one and dare I say, deservedly so as well. Some people had said Ayanda Nhlangothi should have won that year, but I don’t believe she had the complete Idols package which is yes, a package complete with pay-as-you-hug fans. You can see from the type of music she currently does. She would be best suited for “Mbaqanga Idols”. Perhaps Bianca Le Grange should have won. Now THERE was a package if I ever saw one myself! Loyiso Bala certainly would have agreed.

After Heinz it was just downhill. Anke Pietrangeli (2003), Karin Kortje (2005) and Dewald Louw (2006). Goodness, who are these folks? Karin for one, got more (in)famous for her much-publicised personal life than her CD (which is claimed to have sold over 20 000 copies to date). Anke was just Anke and Dewald fell victim to the show being moved from M-Net to Kyknet, making it an all-Afrikaans affair.

Before I go on, let’s just get the name right first. It is Idols. Not Pop Idols or Idols Stars. Just Idols. There. So Idols auditions kick off in Jozi on the 23rd June at the Standard Bank Arena. You have to be between the ages of 18 and 30 to enter. If you turn 31 on June 22, sorry for you. And please bring your best singing voice because the judges are the same as two years ago, that is, Randall Abrahams (walking music encyclopedia and BIG Elvis fan), Mara Louw (whose tenure on SABC 2’s Muvhango has just ended), Gareth Cliff (5fm shock jock) and Dave Thompson, the marketing suit from Sony BMG who are the people actually awarding the recording contract to the eventual winner. The show will broadcast on M-Net from 19 August at 17:30.

I have a grand dream. They should do a World Idols for all the country/ region winners and finalists, and the judges must be Randall, Simon Cowell (American Idol) and Dede (from Idols West Africa). How’s about it?

Here's to a few weeks of bad tunes, wrong pitch, funny insults, tears and laughs!

Is there an iRipoff coming to my stoep?

So the buzz around the iPhone has resurfaced after Apple king Steve Jobs unveiled it last year. Having seen shots of the thing and read of its capabilities, it struck me as odd that the world would suddenly get so hyped up about a product that has existed in Japan for over 4 years already in different forms. One Japanese guy interviewed after the iPhone announcement earlier in the year said his phone could even talk to his TV and fridge about upcoming shows and what kinda food was going bad respectively. The Japs unfortunately, are like South Africans; they just don’t have a clue as to how to market their technology like the Americans can.
It reminds me of the dash-bound, front-loading 6-CD changer I first experienced in an old Lexus way back when the likes of Mercedes-Benz and BMW were still using CD shuttles sitting in the boot of a car. Here was a CD player you could load up 6 CDs into through one slot, without even opening the door of your car. Awesome. Years later the Europeans have caught up to it and suddenly it is the in-thing!

iPhone is the same. Essentially an iPod/ cell phone combo is what the iPhone is, with its 4 – 8GB storage capacity. A phone that plays music (MP3 files), makes calls, surfs the Internet, handles emails…I’m sure by now you are thinking “wait a minute, that sounds like phones I already know!”. This is true. One of the latest is Samsung’s F300 which has been popularised by Beyonce on the TV ads. Clever technology, stupid idea. For one, I can only speak on the F300 phone OR listen to music, not do both at the same time. Which means surfacewise, I don’t need two to operate these functions, one will do, as it has over these years. The other thing of course, is how do I place it down since both surfaces are scratchable? Not smart at all. My old 2005 model Nokia 7710 too has all these capabilities as well, including QWERTY touch keyboard, radio and Bluetooth.

Nevertheless, Apple has an extremely busy and well-funded marketing machine that has bolted it into people’s minds that the iPhone is revolutionary (touch-screen), that it represents cutting-edge hi-tech that no one else has come up with before. It’s true there’s some nice stuff there, but hell, not even the name itself is new; Apple had a legal tiff just a few months ago with the original owners of the name iPhone, which was tech firm Cisco Systems.

At the announcement in January Apple said the iPhone would only be available in the US. I’m told it will sell over there for between US$500 and US$600 a piece. That is R3 570 and R4 284 respectively today. Of course if it ever came to sunny Mzansi you might see prices of between R6 000 to R10 000 each without contract.