Steve, Anton concert 'a disaster'

2008-08-28 10:17

Philip de Bruin

Pretoria - The Brugbou (Bridge building) concert in March 2008 during which Anton Goosen and Steve Hofmeyr made peace, has become an unpleasant mudslinging fight, resulting in "gloves coming off".

Concert organiser Wimpie van der Sandt on Wednesday described it as "the biggest flop to date in the history of Afrikaans music".

"Just over 1 000 paying guests arrived - we expected between 10 000 and 15 000," he said.

"The concert's total income was R193 000, whereas the total expenses on marketing, the singers and the SuperSport stadium in Centurion were R1.5m.

"The whole thing was a miserable failure and it was not my fault."

Van der Sandt signed contracts "on behalf of the sponsor Brikor", which stipulated that Brikor would pay Goosen and Hofmeyr R450 000 each. They have only received half - R225 000 each. Now they are looking to Van der Sandt for the rest of the money, because, as Goosen puts it, Van der Sandt signed the contracts and not Brikor.

Greed?

Both singers say it is not about the money, but they feel it is important that as senior singers in the business they "now take a strong stand on singers who are contracted and then not paid".

"These days it happens too often that singers are abused like this. Somewhere we have to take a strong stand for the sake of the younger singers who are still struggling financially," Goosen explained on Wednesday.

Van der Sandt said he was tired of "being the villain in this story. I am beginning to feel like someone who has assaulted a child. I tried my best.

"But if people want to take on me and my good name, the gloves will come off today. Then I will fight - whether it be Steve, Anton or whoever. I am not scared.

"Personally, I think Steve and Anton are motivated by greed. Taking into account the pathetic turn-out at the concert, the loss of R1.3m that the sponsor suffered and the fact that each of them has already been paid R225 000, it looks like they want to squeeze blood from a stone."

Brikor's Garett Parkin said if Van der Sandt wanted to talk to Brikor he was welcome to.

"But it is final: No one is getting a cent more out of Brikor. The Brugbou concert was a total disaster."

- Beeld