Ndlala Mall Grand Opening Postponed as R&B Star Tank Cancels Performance
Undisclosed Business Dispute Prompts Rescheduling
The highly anticipated grand opening of Ndlala Mall in Arcadia, Pretoria, has been indefinitely postponed. US musician Tank has withdrawn from his scheduled performance due to an unspecified business disagreement, forcing organizers to push back the event.
Performance Hiccups Cause Delay
The two-day launch weekend was set to feature R&B artist Tank, a 49-year-old Grammy-nominated singer, and South African vocalist Zonke. Both were slated to perform at the newly established Ndlala Arena, a 550-seat venue located within the mall premises. The mall is helmed by CEO Thami Ndlala, who is married to television personality Lerato Kganyago.
In a statement released Wednesday evening, mall management confirmed the new opening date is August 23. “The grand opening of the Ndlala Mall has been postponed to the 23rd of August with a banging new line up to be announced soon,” the statement read.
The statement further elaborated on the reason for the delay: “Tank is unable to make it to SA as something has fallen apart business wise which is going to keep him from fulfilling his obligation.” The revised date aims to allow sufficient time for securing new acts.
To my fans in South Africa, please know that I did everything I could to make it work. This is not a reflection of my desire to perform for you all. I hope we can find a way to resolve this soon and I can still make it to Pretoria. Again, my apologies.
— Tank (@TheRealTank) September 8, 2023
Artist Expresses Regret
Tank himself addressed the situation via social media on Monday, expressing his disappointment. “As much as I was looking forward to coming out there and performing for your guys, it’s been over ten years [and] I was super excited,” Tank stated in a video clip shared on Instagram.
“Somethings have fallen apart business-wise that are going to prevent me from fulfilling my obligations to you. I firstly want to apologise to you, the fans and all the people who were making plans to pull up and enjoy this R&B music. Hopefully, things can be resolved and preferable I can get up there.”
—Tank
The postponement comes as retail sales in South Africa have shown resilience, with the South African Council of Shopping Centres reporting a 2.9% increase in the value of retail sales in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the previous year (BusinessTech, June 2023).
New Lineup Expected
Organizers have promised a “banging new lineup” with artists to be announced next week. Despite the setback, plans for the mall’s launch are reportedly proceeding as scheduled, contingent on the successful arrangement of the new entertainment program.
