- Fashion designers say the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sport, Arts and Culture still owes them Dundee July prize money three months later.
- The department says sponsor Ithala transferred the money to it, and payments to winners are under way.
Fashion designers who won prizes at the Dundee July say the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sport, Arts and Culture still has not paid them, three months later.
They told Scrolla.Africa this week they are also under pressure from modelling agencies, because the models who showed their designs at the event have not been paid either.
Designer Mthunzi Mthembu said the worst part is that after three months of asking, nobody at the department is willing to help.
He said the designers were told a few weeks ago that the sponsor, Ithala, had paid the outstanding amount so they could be paid. Since then, he said, they have heard nothing. A department official kept them updated at first but has stopped answering their calls.
Mthembu said he has a job in Seychelles and must leave South Africa on 22 November, but he has no money because he has not been paid since July.
He said the same thing happened in 2024, and some designers and models stopped taking part in the Dundee July because of it.
Sandile Mbonani of the department told Scrolla.Africa the delay was caused by “unforeseen circumstances”, but the process to pay all the Dundee July winners is under way.
He said the department knows about the problem and is in constant contact with the designers and models who have not been paid.
Mbonani said Ithala was managing the payments as the sponsor, but told the department it could not pay individuals. It then agreed to transfer the money to the department to pay those still waiting.
He said winners who were paid directly by the department received their money before 15 August.
