A press statement issued by Heinsite Construction alleges that a number of third-party suppliers and local artists have not been paid for their part in the recent Black Coffee show that was held at Royal Aria stadium on 12 November 2022.
According to the statement, Kulture Events Management Company, a local firm owned by Sports Inc. was appointed event coordinator and tasked with responsibilities on such matters which included event venue booking, local artist and supplier bookings and payments, sponsorship coordination and other areas.
“In May 2022, Heinsite Construction appointed Kulture Events, a local firm owned by Sports Inc, for this management role. The selection process was based on pitch proposals and portfolios submitted by local event companies, of which the Management of Heinsite Construction decided that Kulture Events stood out as the most suitable company. Their pitch appeared to demonstrate the quality of relationships with third parties and the management experience required to run an event of such a distinctive nature.”
The statement explains that the agreement drawn between the two parties; Heinsite Construction and Sports Inc. was that the former would bear the significant costs of securing the international headliner as well as supporting lineup artists. “It was agreed that Kulture Events would be responsible for the securing of sponsors to fundraise for the associated costs that would be incurred locally including the Botswana artist lineup, suppliers including the venue, the marketing communications campaign and etcetera.”
Furthermore, Heinsite Construction says that they followed through with the agreed full payment to secure the international artists prior to the event, which is a standard procedure to confirm artist bookings. They added that to their dismay, they thereafter incurred additional costs for the event which was outside the said agreement.
“Additionally, we have been reliably informed that a number of third-party suppliers and local artists were not paid their dues in accordance with their respective agreements with Sports Inc. To this date all our efforts to reach the directors of Sports Inc. have been futile, and we have received no responses from any of our attempts to be in contact with them to address and resolve these issues.”
They went on to distance themselves from all activity that has been demonstrated. “Concerning the potential loss incurred by our company as victims of the breach of relationship by Sports Inc, we are in talks with our legal advisory team to explore further action.” In closing, they advised all stakeholders with due moneys owed to them to contact the Directors of Sports Inc directly.
When contacted by this publication, Kulture Events denied all allegations regarding this matter and refused to comment any further.
