A local film production company is about to have its own musangwe battle, but it has picked the host of a popular television series in America as opponent. The battle is set to play out in the courts, as the producers filed a lawsuit claiming copyright infringements as well as defamation of character.
David Phume is the representative of Penthouse Motion Pictures. According to him, the company acquired the rights to film and make documentaries on the musangwe (bare-fist) tournaments that are run and hosted by the Vhembe Traditional Entertainment Organisation (VTEO).
In January 2017, Penthouse Motion Pictures was made aware of the fact that its musangwe clips were being used on a comedy television show. The unhappiness mostly stemmed from the Tosh.O show that was broadcast on MTV Networks Africa. Even though the show was first broadcast in 2014, the local producers only became aware of the clips' being used in 2017.
Wikipedia describes Tosh as a comedian who "is known for his deliberately offensive and controversial style of black comedy".
In the Tosh.O video insert, the presenter ridicules musangwe, calling it a game to pass time: "This is Africa where tribal boxing is just how they pass the time at lunch since there is no food." When a man hits his opponent in the abdomen and falls, Tosh shouts gleefully "Shaka Zulu!" He then infers that caretakers attending to the fallen man "must be checking him for blood diamonds".
The on-site caretakers would also slip their hands into the opponent's underwear to check if he had not been hurt, but Tosh made fun of that: "Anyone notice that the guy touching his head wears gloves but the guy touching his weenie doesn't? No wonder AIDS is doing so well over there," he says.
Upon discovering the doctored Tosh.O video clip, the representatives from VTEO felt extremely insulted and annoyed. They apparently assumed that Penthouse Motion Pictures had sold the rights to the American company, who was insulting their culture. It has since caused a serious rift between Penthouse Motion Pictures, VTEO and musangwe fighters.
However, Penthouse explained their innocence and argued that Tosh had lifted the video from the Internet and doctored it to suit his disparaging motives. "We were shocked and offended when we realised that Comedy Central broadcast a show in January 2017 that mocked the musangwe sport," said Penthouse's spokesperson, Neo Motlhala.
He added that while Penthouse supported freedom of expression and comedy, they were against racist or derogatory language used in the Tosh.O video clip of musangwe. "It is unacceptable that the dignity of cultures and their communities must be insulted and dehumanised," he said.
Penthouse have so far taken legal action against Viacom International (the owners of Comedy Central), MTV Networks Africa (owner of Comedy Central in Sub-Saharan Africa), Multichoice, and DSTV (broadcasters of Comedy Central). "The action seeks to restrain the respondents from (further) copyright infringements and most importantly for infringements on the dignity of the Vhavenda people," he said. "Our African identity is continually attacked and dehumanised in many forms around the world, so it is important to stand up for it."
He stated that their court papers argued that the presenter's comments were a racist attack on the Vhavenda community and its customs and traditions in particular, and black Africans in general.
"His comments imply that our customs and traditions, and African people, are backward, dishonourable, filthy, disreputable, of low character, that they trade in goods obtained by bloodshed and slavery and are deserving of the AIDS epidemic," he concluded.
The chairperson of VTEO, Patrick Ramarada, said that Daniel Tosh and his team had destroyed them. "We had a contract with Penthouse, but after seeing the Tosh.O video clip, we put it on hold, thinking that they were selling our culture to people who then said we've got AIDS," Ramarada said. "However, the organisation, together with Penthouse, will fight this war until justice is served in this matter. Tosh and his associates ruined our musangwe image and our relationship with Penthouse."
Meanwhile, when contacted for comment, Comedy Central Africa replied that they recently became aware of the filing of the court papers in relation to the Tosh.0 video insert. "We are in the process of reviewing the court papers related to this matter of the Tosh.0 insert broadcast in January 2017 and will follow the due legal process," said Fathima Beckmann at Comedy Central Africa. "We are working towards finding an amicable resolution and continue regular engagement with all the relevant parties, including Penthouse."