AFRO-soul diva Simphiwe Dana is embroiled in an orgy of legal battles with her building contractor over claims that she failed to pay for services rendered.
AFRO-soul diva Simphiwe Dana is embroiled in an orgy of legal battles with her building contractor over claims that she failed to pay for services rendered.
In turn, the muso has accused the contractor of extortion and housebreaking after her home was allegedly broken into while she was away on holiday in December.
Dana was taken to the Small Claims Court by Godknows Kandira of Chedgo Construction. In his application, he claimed the Nzima singer never paid him for the renovations done to her home in Orange Grove, Joburg .
Kandira told Sunday World that Dana was a fraudster, who swindled her insurer with a claim for a housebreaking theft that never happened.
According to court documents, the singer and social activist is accused of failing to pay the contractor for additional work that exceeded the original quote.
Dana confirmed that she was taken to court, but denied it was over nonpayment.
"I can confirm that a letter of demand to appear in the Small Claims Court has been sent to me," said Dana.
The artist, whose latest album Firebrand has received mixed reviews, said she also opened a case of extortion against Kandira at the Norwood Police Station.
"Mr Kandira has, over the past week or so, changed the amounts owed to him from R500 to R2500 then to R6000 without a valid reason," she said.
Police spokesman Richard Munyai confirmed that a case of extortion had been opened by Dana.
According to Dana, she fired Kandira and his workers after she suspected him of breaking into her house while they were still on site.
"What raised my suspicion was how concerned he was about the security of my home. He went as far as trying to insinuate that my former nanny was up to something," she said.
"When I fired him, he was quite mad, shouting and screaming at me. I asked him to leave."
During the argument, Dana told Kandira she would deduct R500 from his final payment for the unfinished job. They allegedly agreed.
A fuming Kandira said: "She must stop this and not take advantage of me. I gave her a quotation of R31800, including the pavement. When she couldn't afford it, she asked that I leave it.
"There was never R500. I sent a quote for R2500 for the gates and the carport that she asked me to fix. In the letter, it's R6000 because she caused this. It's my petrol and my airtime used to resolve this matter."
In her police statement, Dana writes: "During December, I had an attempted housebreaking at my house. I have been staying there for almost 10 years, but had never had a housebreaking.
"Before the attempted housebreaking, Mr Kandira was always suggesting ways to make my house more secure. He tried making me suspicious about my then nanny, saying that she brought different men into the house at night. That made me suspicious when he mentioned men coming at night because he was not working at night. How did he know?"
But Kandira is not backing down. "I took her to the airport when she was going to Zambia and she told me about the break-in. She was also looking for people to blame. She defrauded her insurance and was paid three days later for those things. She [now] wants to ruin my name."
ndawos@sundayworld.co.za
Dana fights with contractor
AFRO-soul diva Simphiwe Dana is embroiled in an orgy of legal battles with her building contractor over claims that she failed to pay for services rendered.
AFRO-soul diva Simphiwe Dana is embroiled in an orgy of legal battles with her building contractor over claims that she failed to pay for services rendered.
In turn, the muso has accused the contractor of extortion and housebreaking after her home was allegedly broken into while she was away on holiday in December.
Dana was taken to the Small Claims Court by Godknows Kandira of Chedgo Construction. In his application, he claimed the Nzima singer never paid him for the renovations done to her home in Orange Grove, Joburg .
Kandira told Sunday World that Dana was a fraudster, who swindled her insurer with a claim for a housebreaking theft that never happened.
According to court documents, the singer and social activist is accused of failing to pay the contractor for additional work that exceeded the original quote.
Dana confirmed that she was taken to court, but denied it was over nonpayment.
"I can confirm that a letter of demand to appear in the Small Claims Court has been sent to me," said Dana.
The artist, whose latest album Firebrand has received mixed reviews, said she also opened a case of extortion against Kandira at the Norwood Police Station.
"Mr Kandira has, over the past week or so, changed the amounts owed to him from R500 to R2500 then to R6000 without a valid reason," she said.
Police spokesman Richard Munyai confirmed that a case of extortion had been opened by Dana.
According to Dana, she fired Kandira and his workers after she suspected him of breaking into her house while they were still on site.
"What raised my suspicion was how concerned he was about the security of my home. He went as far as trying to insinuate that my former nanny was up to something," she said.
"When I fired him, he was quite mad, shouting and screaming at me. I asked him to leave."
During the argument, Dana told Kandira she would deduct R500 from his final payment for the unfinished job. They allegedly agreed.
A fuming Kandira said: "She must stop this and not take advantage of me. I gave her a quotation of R31800, including the pavement. When she couldn't afford it, she asked that I leave it.
"There was never R500. I sent a quote for R2500 for the gates and the carport that she asked me to fix. In the letter, it's R6000 because she caused this. It's my petrol and my airtime used to resolve this matter."
In her police statement, Dana writes: "During December, I had an attempted housebreaking at my house. I have been staying there for almost 10 years, but had never had a housebreaking.
"Before the attempted housebreaking, Mr Kandira was always suggesting ways to make my house more secure. He tried making me suspicious about my then nanny, saying that she brought different men into the house at night. That made me suspicious when he mentioned men coming at night because he was not working at night. How did he know?"
But Kandira is not backing down. "I took her to the airport when she was going to Zambia and she told me about the break-in. She was also looking for people to blame. She defrauded her insurance and was paid three days later for those things. She [now] wants to ruin my name."
ndawos@sundayworld.co.za
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