Tsholo Motsie during the Military swag picnic in November last year
Mohalenyane Phakela
THE founder of the Diva Network Southern Africa, Tsholo Motsie has been accused of exploiting the women she employed for her Military Camp party which was held last November in Sehlabeng, Berea district.
The Diva Network was established in August 2016 with the stated aim of empowering women through various entrepreneurial and entertainment activities.
It adopted the slogan “enough is enough with the pull her down syndrome” and staged themed events that helped the network expand and attract members from Botswana and South Africa.
However, in an apparent violation of the network’s mandate, some of the women who participated in the Military Camp party told the Weekender that Motsie left them stranded in Sehlabeng after the show and has ignored frequent requests for payment since then.
“We worked very hard in promoting the Military Camp event and even up to midnight on some days. We were so committed as she had promised to pay us M5000 each,” said one woman who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity.
“We never demanded contracts for we believed in the project and never thought Tsholo would rip us off for the aim was to kill the put her down syndrome as she would often say.
“Little did we know that things would turn out this sour. Problems started when we were left stranded in the middle of the night after the event we had to call-in favours from friends with cars or hitchhike,” the woman said, adding Tsholo would come up with excuses such as ill-health before completely ignoring them.
She said although there was no written agreement they were publicising the issue in the hope that “people would realise what kind of person she is”.
Screenshots of a WhatsApp conversation between Motsie and one of the women seen by the Weekender, appeared to show Motsie promising to pay the woman via a mobile money platform.
The conversations took place from 20 November to 9 December 2016 and it appears by that date Motsie had not made good on her promise as the woman continued to demand payment.
In addition, a statement by women calling themselves “former Divas” has been doing the rounds on WhatsApp, claiming that Motsie had reneged on the agreement to pay the women.
“The (Diva) Network was said to be about empowering women by creating jobs, instead Tsholo Motsie used her powers in a bad way when she called in young girls promising payment and other benefits in exchange for helping with promotion of the military affair.
“To this day Tsholo never paid a dime, she exploited these young talents and never once gave an explanation,” reads part of the statement.
“She stopped responding to calls and texts right after the military event took place. The girls were not the only victims, the photographer and everyone else who worked with her also got played. Her debts include orders from people who paid for merchandise she was selling before the event which she has not delivered to date.”
When the Weekender contacted Motsie for comment on Monday, she initially promised to respond in person after taking her child to the doctor but she did not show up. The following day, she demanded written questions which were sent to her email and she replied that a full statement would be issued as soon as her legal team had dealt with the matter.
“The Network is aware of a defaming and untruthful WhatsApp message in circulation. A formal statement will be released once the legal team has made a conclusion on how best we can remedy the situation,” Motsie wrote in her email.
