Excuse us, sir, . . .

What does Gabriel Ettlin mean when he says “no local acceptable substitutions are available” in terms production-related equipment? Just to host John Legend playing solo?
Apart from the venue, PA system, lighting, ticketing and other small things, what production items require sourcing from South Africa?
Compared to the National Sports Stadium and Glamis Arena, surely the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) is just a baby, in terms of sound system requirements and lighting.

If Divine Sound was able to provide lighting for P-Square at the Glamis Arena without importing a thing, what could John Legend require from South Africa considering that the artistes are on the same international level?

Or maybe Delta Beverages, who brought in P-Square and hired Divine Sound, are unaware that there is a better, more expensive sound system from South Africa?

What about one of the continent’s biggest festivals in Africa, the Harare International Festival of the Arts (Hifa)?
Are they insane, too, for sourcing all their requirements from local suppliers?

Hifa contracts HK Audio, Divine Sound and Stevie, among others, for sound, and these are locals who have equipment to power up any artiste.

A Hifa official who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that Divine Sound, for instance, provides production-related items for four venues during the festival.

Combine all that muscle into one and the result is a sound to match any international standard. So just what is it exactly that the organiser, Gabriel Ettlin and his friends, need to import from South Africa?

Ettlin’s argument does not hold water, especially considering that this will be an acoustic night. If it was a full band, maybe, but just John Legend and his guitar and a few other additionals, should not come at such a cost.

Even the size comparison of venues is still a long shot because the HICC and the Grand Arena in Cape Town have the same capacity, but still tickets to the latter are considerably much cheaper.

With international artistes of this kind being a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence on this part of the planet, who can blame these promoters when they go all out to fleece seemingly willing consumers of live music performances?

We need a better explanation from Ettlin because we are definitely not buying his dummy!