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Bongani Ndlovu Showbiz Correspondent
ZIM DANCEHALL bad boy Soul Jah Love was on Friday night involved in a brawl at Club Forty 40 with bouncers over gate takings leading to one of his dancers being arrested.
This led to Soul Jah Love (Soul Musaka) not performing, a development that left revellers baying for his blood and that of the organisers of the show.
Some were heard at the door demanding refunds after they had paid $5 for the gig. Most of them were university students who had thronged the venue to watch Conquering Family led by Chibaba Soul Jah Love and Chimama Bounty Lisa.
The fracas was caused by the Hatichabatika hit maker and club owner Dumisani Mutorera not agreeing on who should keep the gate takings.
According to sources at the night spot, Mutorera was unhappy that Soul Jah Love was supposed to get the lion’s share of the gate takings while the club got a small percentage and capitalise on beer sales.
“Everything was agreed upon prior, so that Soul Jah receives the bigger share of gate takings and the club gets 100 percent from beer sales. However, this wasn’t the case on the night as the club owner wasn’t happy about it,” said the source who declined to be named.
He said this resulted in a scuffle and hurling of insults between the parties and police had to be called in to quell the situation.
“One of the dancers was taken to Bulawayo central police station where a report was made and I think a docket was opened. Mutorera is the one who laid charges on him but I’m not sure on what,” he said.
Soul Jah Love and Mutorera were unavailable for comment yesterday but Luka Muza one of the organisers of the show said he was disappointed by the fact that people were now blaming him for the Harare-based artiste’s no show.
“I paid everything that was due to Soul Jah Love and I’m hearing that I’m being blamed for the mayhem at the show. I want to put it clear that it wasn’t me who was at fault but it was the owners of the club and the artiste who couldn’t reach an agreement on who keeps the money,” he said.
Muza said the incident had soured relations between him and Soul Jah Love and owners of the night spot.
“I don’t think Soul Jah Love would want to deal with me in the future because of the brawl. The owners of the club I think have the same feeling. I have made a loss in all this as I thought I would make money but oh well,” he said.
While the brawl went on, revellers in the club were dancing the night away.
News later trickled in that Soul Jah Love would not be performing but they were still optimistic and waited patiently.
He went on stage amid wild cheers from fans briefly and chanted Hauite Hauite, Chibababababa, support Club Forty 40. He promptly left in a huff.
Revellers thought he would return to the stage but he did not and three hours passed with nothing materialising. The fans started looking for organisers and thronged the entrance demanding their money back.
Online Reporter