Papa Penny Sues Standard Bank R1 Million. Veteran musician Penny Penny real name Eric Nkovane sued Standard Bank, which owes him money after he signed a contract worth R1-million to act as an ambassador for its Gold Master Card competition.
According to SowetanLIVE Penny Penny accepted a R100000 payment but said he will still pursue a R200000 fee for cancellation of the contract. According to the contract, which Sowetan has seen, Penny Penny was supposed to be paid 50% of the R1-million before starting work in February.
“They wanted to promote their gold card and then I signed an agreement with their agency,” he said.
“They invited me to their launch and never paid me for accommodation and travel costs for that.
“They also said that when I sign the contract they will give me 50% of the money on the contract and they never did.
“They had to pay me for the work that I already did and for the costs I paid during travelling to promote their work. According to the contract they are supposed to give me R500000 for signing. I have missed out on other gigs of a similar nature because of them,” he said.
The Papa Penny Ahee reality show star’s deal with Standard Bank was mediated by a Johanneburg-based agency called Collective ID, which was communicating with the star through his PR manager Thabang Mnisi.
Mnisi said they were approached by the agency to have the star feature in the campaign, which was presented by television star Thembisa Mdoda and comedian Mashabela Galane.
Mnisi said: “They were interested in Penny Penny because of his song Goldie Bone, which was in line with their gold card. Even though his roles were not properly defined at the time, they said he will be part of their social media advert using his Goldie Bone song.”
Mnisi added that Penny Penny attended a staff meet-and-greet event at Urban Brew studios earlier in the year where he familiarised himself with the bank before shooting the advert.
“What is frustrating is that they [Collective ID] kept pushing us to complete the paperwork and when it was done, they started running around telling us they were waiting for the client to come back to them. I think the client then changed their mind,” he said.
Mnisi said the two parties agreed to pay Penny Penny R100000 for the work he did for them in February, accommodation and travel costs.
Collective ID’s Sue Tyler said Standard Bank had cancelled the contract with the star and blamed Mnisi for not relaying the news to his client.
After Sowetan made an enquiry to the bank, a quick payment was made to the star yesterday.
Magna Carta, a PR agency representing the bank, confirmed that Penny Penny was paid during the day.
“We got Papa Penny’s invoice today and the full amount of the invoice was paid today,” Inga Sebata said.
Penny Penny also confirmed that R100000 was paid to him.
“They have just paid me R100000. They are not saying anything about a cancellation fee, if indeed the contract was cancelled. They have not sent me a cancellation letter and they are not saying anything about the 50% I was supposed to receive after signing the contract,” he said.
“I did not want to do things through the courts at the moment because I have other deals with another bank in the pipeline and I will be coming to Joburg on Monday for a meeting on that,” he said.
