THE airline company whose employees have been accused of verbally and physically assaulting a kwaito artist at OR Tambo International Airport on Sunday night has refuted the musician's claims.

1time Airlines chief executive Rodney James yesterday denied that his employees called Sibonelo Ngcobo (Sosha) a k****r when he and two other men attempted to board a flight to Durban.

Ngcobo and his companions, Bullistic and DJ Kotin, had gone to the airport from a performance in Pretoria when the alleged incident took place.

The men were allegedly assaulted, called k****rs and "rudely escorted out of the airport by security guards and taken to the airport police".

James instead pointed the finger squarely at Ngcobo.

"Regarding the allegations by Mr Sibonelo Ngcobo, we wish to reiterate that at no time did any staff member become physical with Mr Ngcobo or his companions, nor did any staff member use the k word," he said.

"The CCTV footage of the event clearly shows that the group of men arrived 15 minutes after the gates had closed for boarding.

"Upon being informed that check-in had closed, the group of men engaged in a heated discussion with 1time staff members at the counter.

"The footage then shows the men heading towards 1time's ticket sales office where they were met by Andre Davidtz, the duty manager."

"It was explained once again that it was airport procedure that boarding gates be closed 30 minutes prior to flight departures for safety reasons. At no time did any 1time staff member become verbally or physically aggressive with the group, as is being portrayed in (yesterday's) article.

"Our passengers [are] of the utmost importance. As such, we stand by our staff who at no time treated the men with anything less than respect."

Yesterday, Ngcobo said: "I challenge them to play the footage to end all the speculation."