Following his appearance on Podcast and Chill of MacG, musician Dr. Malinga and his finances have been the focus of social media users.
In the two-hour episode, Dr. Malinga touched on a number of topics, but the part of his interview where he broke down after talking about when his problems with the taxman hit the headlines remains the most talked about.
Last month, the gossip blogger Musa Khawula tweeted: “The sheriff visited Dr. Malinga’s house and recovered his furniture. It is said that next week his furniture and appliances will be put up for auction.’
He told the podcast host that the story was true, but contextualized his finances, arguing that the concept of bankruptcy is relative.
What happened between Dr. Malinga and Sars?
“So they took my furniture… Let’s talk, I should have invited you to my place,” the musician joked.
He then hinted that he pleaded guilty on the advice of a lawyer he trusted to deal with a problem he didn’t seem to think was that serious.
This came after he was told he owed the Revenue Service 2.1 million rand.
“Eish! I remember when I sent 1 million rubles. It was the 9th of July after my birthday, after the Durban July. I used my son’s finger to hit send, Malinga mused.
“I continued to pay until I had difficulties,” he added, before recalling the difficulties caused by the lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Malinga recalls reaching out to Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthetwa and a number of other people looking for someone who could help him.
The musician said that he went to an auction where his belongings were being sold, and that he was overcome by the desire to ask and explain his situation to the auctioneers so that they would not sell his belongings.
“I’m the kind of guy, I don’t want donations. Not so… Maybe because I’m used to giving, I’m not used to receiving. Let me stop here…” he asked before taking the moment to shed some tears.
The fact that he showed such vulnerability in the interview shocked so many people who reached out to help him after the interview was released.
He went on to say that he was fine with what happened until Musa Khawula put it out there for public viewing.
Malinga added that he cannot hate the blogger as he was just doing his job and it was not that he was reporting something that was not true.
“He made it fashionable and some people attacked me because I fall under celebrities. But you know what I tell people, I’m a singer who just happens to be on TV.”
How much does Dr. Malinga owe?
After paying 1 million of the 2.1 million rand debt and auctioning off his belongings to make up the rest, Dr Malinga said the Revenue would have to calculate his outstanding balance.
In addition to selling home furniture, the musician claimed they also sold one of his cars for just R40,000.
He estimated his debt at approximately 500,000 rubles.
People come to help
It is because of this estimated amount owed that social media users have spread rumors that fellow musician Black Coffee has decided to settle the bill in full.
Dr Malinga took to Twitter to shut down the rumours.
“Hey guys, @RealBlackCoffee didn’t give 500k, let’s not mislead people. Thanks, goodbye,” he tweeted.
This came after other musicians like Kabza de Small, Busiswa, Oskida and Mkahadi did their best to help the musician earn.
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