Simba 'Bodyslam' Chakare duped in Madirirano UK vi...

Simba 'Bodyslam' Chakare duped in Madirirano UK visa scam

Zim Now Writer

This year’s Madirirano music show in the United Kingdom failed to take place after the artists were duped in a visa scam involving a man who had offered to assist them get the documents.

A brainchild of Simba “Bodyslam” Chakare, Madirirano is a show in which artists bring Harare’s ghetto experiences to their audiences.

Bodyslam piled all the blame on Kaycie, real name Kudzai Chipadza, whom he alleges duped them out of significant sums of money for the processing of work visas for 12 musicians who were due to take part in this year’s edition in Birmingham and other venues in the UK.

“We were meant to perform at the Madirirano show in the United Kingdom, together with Killer T, Saintfloew, Lazzie T and others. We were a group of 12 who were supposed to travel. Kaycie approached me saying he could sort out our papers and we gave him the deal to do work visas for all of us. We paid all the money but he started moving us from pillar to post, delaying the process. At one point, told me that the papers were ready but quickly changed statements and said the lady who was doing them said she would not release them alleging we would use them for the wrong purposes, which we disputed because it was not our first time going to the UK and besides, we simply wanted to go and perform then come back.”

Bodyslam added that Kaycie asked him to pay the UK Djs for the show, which he did, on top of paying the local Djs who were meant to travel with them.

“Kaycie then started playing funny, saying at first that the venue we were initially set to use had been blacklisted, so I am supposed to book another venue. We paid money for booking the other venue. Show dates were fast approaching and he continued giving excuses. There is this lady, Faustine Mautsa who lives in Harare who was said to be doing data capturing. We paid US$100 for that and asked the woman whether all the papers were in order and she said, yes.

“We then went to make submissions in batches. First visa that came was mine. When Killer T’s came out, his manager asked why the visa was written visitor and yet we were going to perform.

“So, all the visas that had been applied for were not the correct ones only Saintflow and Buster. The rest did not get visas. We then asked why he had applied for the wrong visa and yet we had clearly stated we were going to perform. The Harare-based lady seemed to have been aware of what was taking place. We knew what we wanted. As such we now believe these people connived to steal from us,” he alleged.

Bodyslam alleged that Kaycie and his crew, who include South Africa-based duo only named as Chichi and Eusein will be aware that no visas will be granted with the kind of application they make and yet when the verdict comes out that you have been denied the visa, they are quick to blame you for that.

Asked to clarify on allegations that her company is duping clients who would have applied for visas, Faustine insisted on getting questions on letterhead, despite being sent the Zim Now website.