Big blow for Uthando Lodumo viewers; Mampintsha’s mom quits the show

Mampintsha‘s mother, Zama Gumede, and his sister, Pinki, have dumped his show, Uthando Lodumo. They were part of season two and had shot about seven episodes but Zama said she was never paid for season one.

“I never wanted to be on his reality show, but Mampintsha begged me to be part of Uthando Lodumo.

“He even mentioned other celebrity families who were making money from being reality stars.

“I eventually agreed. But I never received money for the first season

“I didn’t question it at the time because he’s my son and I didn’t want to jeopardize his chances of being successful,” she said.

Zama said she also refused to do season two.

“I was no longer interested because I could see I was being exploited.

“But Mampintsha and Showmax management begged me to be part of Uthando Lodumo again.

“We agreed that I’d be paid an undisclosed lump sum per episode,” she said.

She said she only received R10 000, which she was not sure what it was for.

“I’m therefore complaining because Showmax has failed to keep its promise, yet they’re making money out of me.

“When I asked them about payment, they gave me a paper upon which was written R20 000.

“They said I must write my details on it, which I did. But I still don’t understand what that R20 000 was about or what that piece of paper was about. However one of Showmax’s officials told me that I should be getting R20 000 per episode not for the entire production,” she said.

Some of the episodes Zama did include the episode where Babes Wodumo apologized to her for publicly insulting her.

She said she still needed to do other episodes. , which include her grandchild’s birthday and the white wedding.“As we speak they are preparing a white wedding which will be sometime in July or August. They’ll also perform umabo (gifts for the in-laws). But “I have taken a decision to leave this show,But I’ll no longer participate in the show unless they give me my money,” said Zama.

“Sponges’s first birthday is on 16 June and I’m supposed to buy him a present. I can’t afford not to buy him a present because he’s my first grandson. But I don’t have money, Showmax is refusing to pay me,” said Zama.

Pinki said they bought their own clothes and organized their own transport to go to set.

“All of this is costing us because we’re not getting paid. But Showmax takes care of Babes Wodumo and her family I’m angry because I was never paid for the first season. “For this season, I’ve done about seven episodes and I was paid R5 000. I was told I’d be getting more money on 1 June, but I never received it,” she said.

She said she approached Thomas Gumede and Lungile Radu, who produce the show, but they ignored her.

“I also asked Babes Wodumo and she promised to revert back to me. For this reason, I have decided to stop shooting Uthando Lodumo until I get my money,” she said.

Executive head of programming at MultiChoice, Nomsa Philiso, said: “While we are concerned whenever issues like these are raised, we respect that the relationship between cast and production companies is subject to the agreements between them.”

“We do however caution all our content providers that any behaviour that does not accord with our values will not be tolerated.”

Philiso confirmed that season two of Uthando Lodumo is coming, but she could not confirm a premiere date.

Mampintsha, Babes Wodumo, as well as producers Thomas Gumede and Lungile Radu, were contacted for comment but they failed to respond at the time of going to print. . They also failed to answer calls and ignored the reminders sent to them.