Harare — SUNGURA artiste Alick Macheso almost failed to perform at a gala held at Gwanzura Stadium recently after his assistant manager Jethro Machanja disagreed with promoters over an outstanding payment from the US$8 000 that the musician had charged.

Harare businessmen Partson Chimbodza, Josh Hozheri and Supa Mandiwanzira had paid Mache-so's manager William Tsandukwa a deposit of US$7000 and agreed to pay US$1 000 after the gig.

But it is alleged that Machanja approached Hozheri demanding the outstanding balance, threatening that Macheso would not perform if they failed to comply with his demands.

Tsandukwa's intervention only saved the day, after he insisted that Macheso would perform since they agreed with the promoters that they would pay the outstanding money after the show.

"This went against our initial agreement with Tsandukwa. There was no way we could give him (Machanja) the money before Macheso had played because when we talked to Tsandukwa, he had agreed that we avail the remainder after the show. "That was very unprofessional on Machanja's part because such behaviour from an assistant manager of such a big artiste like Macheso is unwarranted," said one of the promoters speaking on condition of anonymity.

Contacted for comment, Machanja declined to comment on the issue, referring all questions to his senior, Tsandukwa.