LETLHOGILE MPUANG
Organizers of the African Attire on Fleek Picnic have revealed that they are considering legal action against local airline, Air Botswana for their part in the non-appearance of their headline act Simphiwe Nhlangulela, popularly known as Simmy.
The South African songbird was billed to perform at the first edition of the African Attire on Fleek Picnic over the weekend in Gaborone. She however, failed to show up which then saw the event end prematurely and an ugly scene unfolded as revelers pelted bottles at the stage in expression of their frustration.
The organizers have now come out to place the blame on Air Botswana. “The organizers of African Attire on Fleek Picnic would like to apologize for the non-appearance of our headline artist Simmy. The non-appearance of the artist was due to Air Botswana abruptly, and without prior notice cancelling their 8 PM flight which the artist was booked on and was ready to board as she was already by the Air Botswana counter in Johannesburg by 620 PM upon cancellation,” reads a statement from the organizers.
“We tried to find alternative flights to no avail. We have since decided to consult our legal advisors to give advice on what remedies are available for both the business and our patrons. We are taking this matter seriously and we will pursue all remedial avenues available to us and our patrons to make sure that our brand is not diluted by events we can’t control and our event brand reputation remains intact. We will give further update once all parties have been contacted and a position has been formulated. We, however, take responsibility for what happened, even though out of our control, and once again apologize for what happened.”
Attempts to get a comment from Air Botswana were unsuccessful as their phones rang unanswered on Monday morning. Furthermore, Clear Workx, the company that provided stage, sound and lighting for the event, told Time Out that they are in the process of hitting the event organizers with a bill relating equipment damage.