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Amanda “Ami” Faku has filed an urgent application in the high court aimed at stopping her previous management and publishing partners, The Vth Season, from interfering with her music career. The move targets Benza Consulting CC, which trades as The Vth Season, along with its director Raphael Benza.
In her bid, Faku is asking the court to bar the company and its director from allegedly asserting that they hold exclusive rights over her upcoming releases. She claims those rights claims are being used to limit her ability to move forward in the industry.
What Faku is asking the court to stop
- Blocking Benza Consulting CC (trading as The Vth Season) and director Raphael Benza from interfering with her career.
- An interdict preventing them from telling the public and business partners that she is still tied to 2018 “artist agreements” covering her musical works.
- The disputed works include her album Ezikude and the single Ndisize.
- The Vth Season is opposing her urgent application.
Faku is also seeking an interdict that would prevent Benza and his company from claiming—publicly and to publishing and distribution businesses—that she remains bound by so-called 2018 “artist agreements” covering her catalogue. The application specifically includes references to Ezikude and Ndisize.
The Vth Season has filed opposition to her request.
Benza: settlement talks, not a ban on releases
Speaking to TshisaLIVE, Benza said that for three years he and his team have been trying to get Faku to sign a settlement agreement at no cost. His position is that the aim was to allow her to formally end ties with The Vth Season and become “free” to sign with another establishment without consequences for his side.
Benza also said the company is contesting the application because settlement discussions have been ongoing for a long time. He claimed Faku refused the proposed settlement and described her reaction as escalating into conflict, saying, “Her ego burst and she went on this rampage.”
He further argued that, in his view, Faku could have been out of the arrangement within three years if she had continued releasing music. He added that artists may be able to exit after two years, depending on how much they put out, and that the outcome was largely determined by her release activity.
Benza denied that The Vth Season has ever told her she cannot create or publish new material. He said she could take her music to whomever she chooses, insisting that the company never instructed her to pay them and has not set aside any fee for anything that could go wrong.
He said the only step his team wants is for her to sign a settlement agreement confirming that she is a free agent and cannot return with claims against The Vth Season. “Then she is free to release with whomever,” Benza said, adding that this has been the company’s consistent position going into court.
In addition, Benza said he has not contacted distribution companies or made calls aimed at preventing her from signing elsewhere. He claimed he has never reached out to any distributor in a way that would block her, and that when people want to book Faku, he tells them he does not work with her while sharing her contact details and Instagram.
He explained that her phone number is not public, which is why he provides it directly to those arranging bookings.
How long the agreement lasted, Benza says
Benza also disputed the idea that the arrangement has a fixed duration, saying their agreement with Faku—and with their other artists—does not specify a set time. He described it as artist-friendly and said it can run for as little as three years or as long as 10, depending on the artist.
He repeated that, in his view, Faku could have been done with them in three years if she had released music. He also reiterated that artists can potentially be out of the agreement after two years, depending on how much music they generate.
He added that he expects the matter to be straightforward given an ongoing court case, saying his team has already sent two emails to Faku’s attorneys. Those messages, he claimed, state that under their agreement, she is allowed to release music as soon as possible.
Faku’s team was contacted by TshisaLIVE but declined to comment.
Faku’s urgent high court application comes while an existing legal dispute—now more than two years old—continues regarding how and why the artist agreement contract ended.
