Msunduzi Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla allegedly sent the organisers of the Last Dance Music Festival a R500,000 proof of payment that proved worthless, and eight months later the fallout remains unresolved, with local artists who performed at the event still unpaid and taking their frustrations to social media.
Sipho Ndaba, the organiser of the Last Dance Music Festival, said the mayor sent him the proof of payment on 30 December 2025, allowing the organisers to continue preparations for the festival’s 16th annual event at the Royal Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg the following day.
“On the following day, I took the proof of payment to the bank for verification. The bank informed me that the proof of payment wasn’t legitimate and appeared to have originated from a private company with no known affiliation to the organisers,” Ndaba told Africa Daily.
The document seen by Africa Daily, which purports to be a First National Bank notification of payment dated 30 December 2025, reflects a R500,000 payment to Mbawula Investments.
FNB’s standard disclaimer on such notifications states that the bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the information transmitted and accepts no liability for its authenticity.
Ndaba said he immediately raised the matter with Thebolla and was assured that it would be resolved.
“I informed the Mayor that the proof of payment had been rejected by the bank and he promised to resolve it. He said we should continue with the preparations and that everything would be sorted out. But he never resolved the issue and, as a result, artists have not been paid. They are blaming me as the event organiser,” Ndaba said.
According to Ndaba, the R500,000 was intended to cover payments to local artists contracted on the recommendation of the District Cultural and Creative Industry Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA), as well as VIP hospitality for municipal guests and other event-related costs.
Ndaba said the festival was not sponsored and that he had been working with a limited budget, financing the event from his own pocket.
He said uMsunduzi Municipality only came on-board later, asking him to include local artists and promising to deposit R500,000 to cover the additional costs.
“On that basis, I agreed to include upcoming local artists. Otherwise, the event was not sponsored. I was doing everything from my own pocket,” he said.
Ndaba said he again raised the matter directly with Thebolla during a meeting at the Coastlands Hotel in Musgrave, Durban, on 2 June 2026.
“On 2 June, I met the Mayor at Coastlands Hotel in Musgrave, Durban. The meeting was for the creative industry. Once again I asked the Mayor to resolve the matter and he agreed. We’re now in September and artists are still not paid. The sad part is that they are blaming me for their non-payment instead of uMsunduzi Municipality. I do feel sorry for them, but this is beyond my power,” Ndaba said.
The unpaid artists have since taken their frustrations to social media, with complaints about outstanding performance fees circulating online.
The backlash prompted Msunduzi Municipality to issue a statement on 27 August 2026, setting out its position on the payment dispute.
In the statement, the municipality said its contractual obligations were with the event organiser and that the agreement “does not make provision for the Municipality to contract with or directly compensate individual artists who performed at the event”.
It said the engagement of artists, including their performance terms and fees, remained a matter between the organiser and the artists or their representatives.
The municipality encouraged affected artists to pursue outstanding payments directly with Ndaba’s company.
The mayor’s position, however, is at odds with Ndaba’s account that the municipality specifically asked him to include local artists and promised R500,000 to facilitate their participation and cover other event-related expenses.
Thebolla was approached for comment on the proof of payment, Ndaba’s allegations and the municipality’s failure to resolve the matter over the past eight months, but had not responded by the time of publication.
