Legend Manqele: BarLeader TV production company shuttered, Bonang Matheba 'unprofessional' and owed nothing, Mohale Motaung not paid for Showmax wedding special after 'certain things went down at M-Net' - report

by Thinus Ferreira

Legend Manqele has been forced to shut down his production banner BarLeader TV, says he owes Bonang Matheba nothing who is allegedly "unprofessional" and that her reality show Being Bonang was cancelled over her own "bad behaviour", and that Mohale Motaung is also owed no money and couldn't be paid after "certain things went down at M-Net" following a disastrous Showmax wedding special with Somizi Mhlongo.

In an interview with City Press newspaper (paywall), the controversial TV producer Legend Manqele says he was forced to shut down his BarLeader TV production company following reputation damage and that he and his production company was damaged by "badly managed and badly behaved talent".

Legend Manqele claims that Bonang Matheba's reality show Being Bonang for M-Net's canned 1Magic TV channel on DStv was cancelled due to her "bad behaviour", that she's "unprofessional" and that BarLeader TV doesn't owe her any money. 

He says Bonang Matheba "was paid for her show. At times, she was paid late or the following month because she wouldn't arrive to shoots, or we would find ourselves on set and she wasn't there. Or we had to extend our hours into the night because she forgot. She wasn't being managed well and she wasn't necessarily professional".

BarLeader TV took over the production of the reality show Living the Dream with Somizi from its second season for M-Net's Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) TV channel. 

That was followed by the tacky reality TV wedding series, Somizi & Mohale: The Union which was filmed for MultiChoice's Showmax video streamer in 2020. 

After the couple's relationship soured, leaked production recordings shocked the industry and the public in which Mohale Motaung accused Somizi Mhlongo of alleged violent physical abuse and of having threatened to kill him with a kitchen knife.

Instead of paying the couple their R1.5 million for Somizi & Mohale: The Union, Legend Manqele says he paid the South African Revenue Service (SARS) since Somizi Mhlongo owed SARS money. Since BarLeader TV closed down and the payment agreement was with SARS, Legend Manqele says he doesn't owe Somizi Mhlongo money.

Legend Manqele says BarLeader TV was owed money by M-Net for Showmax's Somizi & Mohale: The Union but didn't get it "because certain things went down at M-Net". 

Producer and director Legend Manqele again accused of allegedly stealing a TV show, says 'I've never stolen a show in my life' as The Khuzani Bo! show with Khuzani Mpungose switches from MultiChoice to SABC1.

by Thinus Ferreira

The director and producer Legend Manqele has once again been accused of allegedly stealing a TV show and a TV show idea and on Thursday afternoon he once again denied the creative concept theft allegations, saying "I've never stolen a show in my life".

Legend Manqele responded after new allegations of TV show content theft. 

This time Khuzani Mpungose and Legend Manqele are embroiled in a dispute with a producer over the ownership of the Maskandi artist's upcoming reality show, The Khuzani Bo! show that suddenly switched from MultiChoice to SABC1.

Musa Buthelezi, a producer from KwaZulu-Natal, is accusing Legend Manqele and Khuzani Mpungose of allegedly stealing his show idea and taking it to the South African public broadcaster's SABC1 channel without his consent.

Musa Buthelezi told tabloid newspapers that Khuzani Mpungose signed a letter of intent to produce a reality show about himself with Musa Buthelezi's company PSG.

Musa Buthelezi says he approached MultiChoice for the show idea with the letter of intent that Khuzani Mpungose signed, with MultiChoice that invited him to make presentations. 

The letter of intent reads: "This letter grants producers permission to use the actor and the actor's name and licences in the pre-development of this project and on the final production from the date of the signing of this letter until post-production".

Musa Buthelezi was then shocked to discover that Legend Manqele's production company, BarLeader TV, that also produced Living the Dream with Somizi for Showmax, would be doing a reality show with Khuzani Mpungose for SABC1, with Legend Manqele attached as the producer.

Gugu Ntuli, SABC spokesperson, in a statement, says that "The Khuzani Bo! show has been licenced to SABC1 by the BarLeader TV productions. SABC1 is not aware of the allegations made by Musa Buthelezi regarding the ownership of the concept. Musa Buthelezi is welcome to take the matter up with The BarLeader TV productions".

In 2020 Hastings Moeng alleged that the concept for the show Dinner at Somizi's on M-Net's 1Magic (DStv 103) was stolen from him by Legend Manqele and BarLeader TV. 

MultiChoice and BarLeader TV were served with letters of demand after Hastings Moeng, Legend Manqele and MultiChoice failed to reach an agreement and plans for a second season of the show was then put on hold.

The case remains unresolved with no further statement that has been made by MultiChoice about Dinner at Somizi's.

BarLeader filming new 13-episode reality show set for 2020 and revolving around the Zumas as South Africa's former first family; series includes scenes at Nkandla homestead.

A mysterious new 13-episode reality series involving some of the Zuma family and partly filmed at the Nkandla presidential homestead is coming to screens in 2020 but the producers remain tight-lipped about the exact nature of the show or where viewers will get to see it.

The as-yet-untitled reality project is produced by BarLeader and executive producer Legend Manqele who grew up in the Sinathingi village in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, and who is responsible for reality shows like Being Bonang and Living the Dream with Somizi.

M-Net told TVwithThinus that the Zuma reality show project wasn't commissioned for one of their channels meaning that it won't be on VUZU, 1Magic or one of the Mzansi Magic channels, and SiyayaTV's Moja Love also said that the series isn't part of their new batch of locally commissioned shows.

A rep for MultiChoice's video streaming service, Showmax, also said it's unlikely to be a show for this platform.

On social media Legend Manqele teased the BarLeader project on Friday last week, using the caption "Meet the Zumas", and showing several photos of camera crews at work at Nkandla and hovering around Nonkanyiso Conco, who shares a son with former president Jacob Zuma.

Legend Manqele told TVwithThinus on Tuesday when reached by phone that he can't reveal what channel the show is for or more about it besides what he teased on Twitter. He confirmed that it will be a 13-episode reality series, not a documentary, and will be for 2020.

Asked whether it will be for South African viewers he said that he couldn't comment.

In November 2013 the free-to-air commercial broadcaster e.tv was hot under the collar and said it would take legal action although it never did, when a satirical article and marked as such, appeared on a website that said e.tv would be filming a new reality show entitled Zuma's Housewives.

The satirical article at the time had fun with the make-believe story detailing how the housewives reality show set against the backdrop of president Jacob Zuma's Nkandla would "profile the pleasure and pressures which four women encounter as wives of a South African president".