Singer opens criminal case against Black Coffee over 15-year royalty dispute

After almost 15 years of trying to get what she claims is owed to her, singer-songwriter Nomsa Mazwai this week opened a criminal case against Grammy Award-winning DJ and producer Black Coffee.

Mazwai, known as Nomisupasta, claims she is owed R2m in royalties for her 2012 hit Traveller, a collaboration with Black Coffee that also featured the duo Black Motion.

But Black Coffee, whose real name is Nkosinathi Maphumulo, has branded the claim baseless, opportunistic, defamatory and malicious, according to legal correspondence seen by the Sunday Times.