Often, when widows fight for their late spouse’s estate, they are labelled unfairly.
Ann, Robbie Malinga's widow, started fighting for what rightfully belonged to her husband a week after her husband passed away, she tells Drum.
Robbie died on 25 December 2017, succumbing to pancreatic cancer after being in and out of hospital.
His wife didn’t find time to grieve, she says, as she had to fight with record labels that need to pay royalties quarterly to her late singer husband, Robbie's, estate.
Six years later, she is fighting to keep his legacy alive. What's more, those plans need money, Ann adds. But, instead of getting the money, she is getting death threats from people who used to work closely with Robbie, she alleges.
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Artists yesterday marched to Universal Music Group in Rosebank to seek questions on their royalties and some of the discrepancies that reportedly don’t make sense in their invoices.
Speaking to Drum earlier on 30 April 2024, Ann vowed she will be joining those artists because for years she has been trying to get answers but hasn’t received any.
She says she even went to the point of hiring an accountant and every time she received statements from Universal, they found out that they were incorrect.
“When I go back to them to tell them that we find out that they owe us more money instead of what they are giving us. Instead of paying they hire an accountant from a big who, by the way always confirms that we are always right.”
The only way that this can be resolved is if the musicians come together, says Ann, adding she hopes for everyone who attends the protest to get some clarity about their money.
“This is not nice because some of us can afford to get there. But also, for the time that I will spend there, I will miss out on work and that is another money I can’t afford to lose but I am willing to make the sacrifice. Imagine the artists that are coming from outside Joburg for this, it is not fair. While the decision-makers are comfortable, getting paid every month and have benefits. I have told them that they are useless, and they don’t know what they are doing.”
She is collecting money for music that is produced by Robbie as well as the producer for other people.
“I haven’t received a penny from the music that Robbie produced for Zahara. Those are the royalties that changed the dynamic of my relationship with people who knew Robbie and me before he got into music. I found out that their a loan of two million taken by one of the people Zahara was signed under. Now, Universal is trying to get that money back, so now it affects the livelihood of my children.”
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She tells Drum that she gets death threats because she is persistent and wants the payout.
“I eventually changed my number because they would call me with strange numbers that were not traceable. It stopped," she confirms.
The latest "death threat" was on 24 December last year, "a day before my husband’s death anniversary".
"It is a long text that I shared with authorities. I am trying to move on, and someone is out there trying to trigger me.”
She says it is disappointing that instead of sitting down and people admitting their wrongs, they would rather threaten her and call her names.
“Many people think I am crazy, and I don’t know what I am talking about. All I am trying to do is to continue keeping his legacy alive. I started a foundation, wrote a book, and started events."
This is a developing news story and will be updated with comment from Universal.
