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Pretoria - "My only crime is that I trusted people I never should have trusted."
Singer Kurt Darren says the failure of the Springbok Bar in Hatfield, Pretoria - of which he owns 25% - is just as sad to him as it is many other people, "but I was actually only one of the 'faces of the place'".
He was surprised to learn that the bar had been very badly managed, since thousands of people attended the opening night, and the bar, according to Darren, was full to capacity, night after night.
"When the closed corporation was created with four members, each owning 25% of the place, I made it very clear from the very start, that I could not be involved in the day-to-day management in any way.
"Pedrie (Wannenburg, Springbok flank) and I would actually only be the 'names' of the place which would attract customers.
"Up to the present, a year after the bar was opened, I haven't seen a single cent of profit. I quickly learned that the place was in chaos because nobody was managing it properly.
"I asked the other partners to advertise for a skilled manager. Not long after that, I was called by Lelanie Doren who wanted to discuss a band she had booked for the Springbok Bar with me. I was completely surprised and asked her what she did at the bar.
"Her answer was: 'I manage your place.' I've known her for a long time, from the days when I was singing in bars and she was doing my bookings. I never appointed her. Anyone who says I appointed her, is lying.
"I told the other partners about my concerns regarding her, but they did nothing about the matter. I was almost never there and, for instance, Sunday was the first time I heard that the water and electricity accounts are in arrears by thousands of rands.
"When it became clear that Lelanie would have to be fired, the other partners were too scared to do so. I had to fire her. But by then, the damage was already done."
Doren has not responded to Beeld's messages.
Singer Kurt Darren says the failure of the Springbok Bar in Hatfield, Pretoria - of which he owns 25% - is just as sad to him as it is many other people, "but I was actually only one of the 'faces of the place'".
He was surprised to learn that the bar had been very badly managed, since thousands of people attended the opening night, and the bar, according to Darren, was full to capacity, night after night.
"When the closed corporation was created with four members, each owning 25% of the place, I made it very clear from the very start, that I could not be involved in the day-to-day management in any way.
"Pedrie (Wannenburg, Springbok flank) and I would actually only be the 'names' of the place which would attract customers.
"Up to the present, a year after the bar was opened, I haven't seen a single cent of profit. I quickly learned that the place was in chaos because nobody was managing it properly.
"I asked the other partners to advertise for a skilled manager. Not long after that, I was called by Lelanie Doren who wanted to discuss a band she had booked for the Springbok Bar with me. I was completely surprised and asked her what she did at the bar.
"Her answer was: 'I manage your place.' I've known her for a long time, from the days when I was singing in bars and she was doing my bookings. I never appointed her. Anyone who says I appointed her, is lying.
"I told the other partners about my concerns regarding her, but they did nothing about the matter. I was almost never there and, for instance, Sunday was the first time I heard that the water and electricity accounts are in arrears by thousands of rands.
"When it became clear that Lelanie would have to be fired, the other partners were too scared to do so. I had to fire her. But by then, the damage was already done."
Doren has not responded to Beeld's messages.
