Ann Malinga, the widow of musician and producer Robbie Malinga has threatened to take legal action against the now defunct TS Record and Universal Music. Ann now demands all the recording agreements and statements between her late husband, Universal Music, and TS Records. She says she needs all the documents to round up Robbie's estate.
She tells ZiMoja that she wants the recording agreements spanning from 2013 to 2020. The frustrated Ann says she has been pursuing documents from the two companies since her husband's passing six years ago. "I have been requesting for these documents since January 2018, just a few days after Robbie's burial," Ann says. She now suspects that there is something dodgy that has happened and that, that is probably the reason why she is being sent from pillar to post. "There is more to this than meets the eye.
The mother of two says this process is delaying rounding up her late husband's estate and holding her back from moving on with her life. Her lawyer, Bongani Mdakane from Mdakane Attorneys Inc. wrote to Manusha Sarawan of Universal Music on May 17, to get answers on the recording agreements after she alleges TS Records "blue ticked" her. The letter states: "Our client's instructions are that, during Mr Malinga's lifetime, he entered into a recording agreement with you ("The Recording Agreement"). Furthermore, Mr Malinga participated extensively as a producer, performer and/or composer in recordings owned and/or controlled by TS Records ("TS Recordings"). The letter continues: "Kindly furnish us with a copy of the Recording Agreement with all its iterations (if any) as our client is not in possession of same. "Additionally, we requested all agreements for all TS-owned Recordings that our client participated in as a producer, performer and/or composer"
Ann believes that Universal Music, the then parent company of TS Records, which distributed its music, is also involved in pulling the wool over her eyes. She told ZiMoja: "Both Universal and TS are involved in the same fraudulent scheme with regards to Robbie's work," she says. Universal has distanced itself from the drama surrounding the allegations made by Ann. In a response to Ann's lawyer, Manisha clarified that it is TS Records who would have been responsible for drafting and entering into the relevant agreements. "We hereby vehemently deny the allegations that EMI/Universal undertook the responsibility to draft any agreements on behalf of TS Records, on the strength of the abovementioned licence agreement and such agreements are to be obtained from TK Nciza directly," she said.