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By Entertainment Reporter 
15h ago
MultiChoice has responded to allegations of theft of intellectual property made against the successful Somizi Mhlongo-Motaung program. Dinner at Somizi’s.
In a press release sent to IOL Entertainment on Tuesday, MultiChoice spokesman Benedict Maaga said the company was aware of the allegations against and had contacted Hastings Moeng, who had made the allegations.
“MultiChoice is aware of the allegation made by Hastings Moeng in relation to Dinner at Somizi’s.
“When content is commissioned from producers, as in this case, MultiChoice gets a pledge that all intellectual property rights in relation to the show have been licensed.
“We contacted Mr. Moeng a week ago to discuss the matter and await his response. We are also involving the producer of the show,” the statement read.
The channel also indicated that the accusations would not “impact” on the broadcast of the program.
“This claim will not affect the broadcast of the remaining episodes of the show,” Maaga said.
This comes after Moeng’s 2014 email surfaced on social media. In the email, Moeng shared a cooking show proposal for Mhlongo-Motaung, which never materialized. However, the ideas in the email somehow reflect the popular Mhlongo-Motaung TV show. Dinner at Somizi’s, which is currently airing on 1 Magic, channel 103 of DStv.
Mhlongo-Motaung and Nkululeko Manqele, the show’s executive producer, have come under fire for these accusations.
According to emails shared by former 702 radio host Eusebius McKaiser, an email was sent to Mhlongo-Motaung and his associate Themba Zuma in July 2014, proposing a weekly lifestyle and entertainment TV show titled Dinner for Somizi – that he would watch the Mhlongo-Motaung cook with local stars while engaging them in interesting topics.
In his proposal, Moeng stated that he had had the idea for the show since 2010 and hoped that the duo would help him bring the show to life.
Please take this as an expression of interest to partner with you on the idea. I hadn’t done a show before, although I’m sure we have a database of the right people among us to bring this to life, ”Moeng wrote.
He added, “’Dinner kwa Somizi’ is a weekly entertainment and lifestyle talk show in which South African artist Somizi Mhlongo chats with other artists over dinner. Each episode captures the drama involved in preparing each meal as Somizi and his guest sit it down in the kitchen before sitting down.
“Guests will be an eclectic mix of idols and icons, new kids and kids not so new to SA showbiz,” the email read.
Some of the proposed guests included rapper AKA, television host Minnie Dlamini-Jones, veteran actress Lillian Dube, and radio personality Dineo Ranaka.
IOL Entertainment reached out to Mhlongo-Motaung and Manqele for comment, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
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