June Shimuoshili

Despite plans to set in motion the second season of Visible Talent Show, some of the winners from last year are still to receive their payments.
Spearheaded by veteran musician Tate Buti with judges including versatile musicians Top Cheri and Dion from PDK, Visible Talent had a whirlwind launch allowing Namibian creatives to showcase their abilities and promised lucrative prizes ranging from N$10 000 to N$50 000. One of the participants Mervin Claasen, manager of popular dance group Hozala’s Finest, said he was informed they will receive 75% of the amount from winning in the talent competition but nothing has materialised to date. 

“We did not get our money. They called us asking if we spoke to the media and told us that the money from the sponsors finished on the road and because of the pandemic, they cannot have roadshows from which we would have got paid. Times are hard, it is not fair that we won and haven’t gotten our money,” he said. According to the event’s project manager Rousa Shikoha, the winners who were supposed to be paid a lump sum of N$90 000 for their talents and skills, have only gotten half of their winnings. 

“We realised that with projects of this nature when people are given the money they do not use the money for the necessary activities. We aim to give an opportunity to pay specialists to help winners to become a brand on their own. We also plan to take the winning teams to South Africa for mentorship with the remaining half,” she stated.

Head organiser Tate Buti told unwrap.online that as far as he was concerned money for the winners was allocated and paid. 
“I paid these guys half. When I brought them to Windhoek things were not easy. I am the only person who has done this and used my resources. I have made half of the payments. The project manager must send proof of payments. I do not know whether they have received the money or not but obviously you know now that since Covid-19 hit it has not been okay so I do not know how we will handle that situation,” he said.
Speaking on the debacle, judge Top Cheri told unwrap.online: “I only participated in that show as a judge and most of the payments were handled by Tate Buti. I did not participate in the finals because the sponsors brought their judges but was not involved in the payments at all.”