Andile Jali dribbles participants of his community project
Image: Lefty Shivambu/ Gallo Images
Bafana Bafana midfielder Andile Jali is at war with his homeboys over allegations that he failed to pay them for helping the soccer star make his community development project a success.
A soccer team that participated in Eastern Cape's Back to Matatiele Social Festival and an artist claim that Jali, now playing for K.V. Oostende in Belgium, has failed to pay them thousands of rand since the June 2016 event.
Artist Brazil Nqini said the midfielder owed him R12000 for the work he did for his event, while La Liga FC coach Sizwe Matiyane claimed they never received their R40000 prize.
Nqini, 24, who is a visual artist student, said he had done six portraits of celebrities who attended the annual event. The celebrities included TV presenter Minnie Dlamini-Jones, who was the MC, as well as rappers Emtee and Kwesta.
He said they had agreed on R2000 for each portrait and Jali promised to pay soon after he delivered on the artworks.
"We met before he left for Joburg. He told me he was in a hurry and would pay me when he got to Joburg," he said.
Nqini told Sunday World that two days later the money had still not been paid. He sent the player a message reminding him to deposit money into his bank account.
"He told me that his accountant was on top of it. When nothing came of his promise, he started ignoring my calls and messages. Now he has blocked me on all his social media pages.
"I need my money because I worked for it. Each portrait took me two days to complete."
Matiyane said he guided his team to victory during the event but his charges have not received a cent for their efforts.
"He gave us a cheque after the match, but it bounced when we went to cash it. The bank told us there were no funds in [Jali's] account.
"We notified the organiser of the tournament and he told us he would let Jali know," he said.
He said he had since given up on the prize money.
The soccer star did not answer calls and failed to respond to text messages sent to him. When contacted, the footballer's agent, Mike Makaab, said: I know nothing about this."