Burna Boy has cancelled his FNB Stadium show. Picture: Instagram/@burnaboygram
As various conflicting reports circulate about what’s really going on with the Burna Boy FNB Stadium concert fiasco, the issue of ticket refunds is now coming to the fore.
This latest development comes in the midst of reports that the recent cancellation of the show was ultimately down to claims of theft of R10 million by Sedote Nwachukwu, who is CEO of entertainment company Ternary Media Group, the organisers of the show.
Nwachukwu and his business partner, Gregory Wings, have been embroiled in an ugly public dispute over the past few days in which both parties have accused each other of fraud.
An industry source handling a major upcoming South African concert explained that the mechanics behind the back-end of ticketing systems allows for the organisers to withdraw funds generated from tickets sales at will.
“The systems are designed such that as money comes in for ticket sales, an organiser and his appointed team can withdraw money at their own discretion.
“This is typically done to allow organisers to access funds for staging requirements, to pay vendors and settle various other expenses that are incurred in the process of setting up a major event.
“The loophole that seems to have been exploited here is that someone withdrew that money and disappeared.
“This now poses the question of what will happen with refunds. And this is something that, I don’t think, Ticketpro can really be held liable for.”
Earlier in the week, Ticketpro announced that it had begun the process of refunding customers.
Despite this, it remains to be seen if this will unfold smoothly ahead as planned as the process takes 7-14 days for EFT refunds.
“We have started refunding customers and all refund requests are being worked through,” the company responded to a comment from a patron on Instagram.
“Your request will be attended to and your refund will be issued.”