It’s that time of the year again. The annual Royal Heritage Festival, a powerful tourism driver for Limpopo, returns to Nandoni Dam, a stone’s throw from Thohoyandou.
With SABC2 and Phalaphala FM as sponsors, the event transforms the region, packing hotels and guesthouses, and injecting life into the local economy with about 20,000-strong crowd.
However, for an event of this magnitude, one must anticipate drama – and this year, the drama has unfolded as a masterclass in reputation management, personal branding, and the strategic sidestepping of traditional public relations (PR).
Last year, Makhadzi, the undisputed "Queen of Venda", pulled out of the festival, citing a fee she deemed unworthy of a BET Award-winner and a proven crowd-puller. Her parallel shows, a direct challenge to the festival’s dominance, undeniably siphoned a significant chunk of the audience. This was not merely a contractual dispute; it was a powerful statement about her value and her personal brand.
This year, the saga has repeated itself, but with a new twist.
The festival's initial line-up, announced on August 1, included Makhadzi, but her name was subtly slotted mid-list, almost as an afterthought. For an artist of her calibre, a woman who is not just a national treasure but an ambassador for African talent on the global stage, this was an act of profound disrespect.
Social media immediately erupted. Venda people, the very heart of the festival's audience, voiced their outrage. This was their queen, yet she was being treated like a supporting act at an event in her own hometown.
Makhadzi’s response, a live broadcast on August 4, was direct and unapologetic. She felt disrespected and threatened to pull out unless the poster and her placement were rectified.
From a traditional PR perspective, this approach might be questioned. The conventional playbook dictates private negotiations and controlled statements. However, as reputation management experts, we must acknowledge that, sometimes, to be heard, one must bypass the usual processes.
Just as KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s media briefing exposed systemic corruption in the SAPS, this public outcry from Makhadzi forced a conversation that internal channels would have likely stifled.
This entire episode is a textbook example of what happens when brand and marketing functions operate in silos – treating PR as an afterthought, a "visiting cousin", rather than an integrated sibling.
The initial poster, a crucial piece of communication, clearly wasn't vetted by all key stakeholders.
The brand team failed to grasp the emotional connection the audience has with Makhadzi, the marketing team misjudged the potential for backlash, and the PR team was left with a crisis to manage, rather than a narrative to build.
This situation, however, could have been a goldmine for a savvy PR team.
They say you can turn lemons into lemonade, and this was a whole orchard. Imagine if the festival had turned this misstep into an ingenious public engagement campaign. They could have framed the initial poster as a deliberate test, a playful challenge to Makhadzi’s loyal fanbase called the “Khadzinators” – much like Beyoncé's fiercely protective “BeyHive”.
The festival could have then invited fans to design a new poster, one that placed their queen where she rightfully belongs.
A competition, with a cash prize for the top five designs, would have turned a reputational crisis into a creative, community-driven campaign, generating authentic engagement across social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and X with the hashtag #RoyalFestival2025.
In the end, Makhadzi and her fans are the clear winners. They have demonstrated the undeniable power of a personal brand and a devoted following. The festival, on the other hand, has been left with egg on its face, scrambling to manage a self-inflicted crisis.
The key takeaway for any organisation is this: invest in the right resources from the outset. Strategic public relations and reputation management are not reactive tools to be deployed in a crisis but proactive functions that should be integrated into every stage of brand development and communication.
The cost of a misstep, as the Royal Heritage Festival has learned, far outweighs the investment in getting it right from the start.
• Mathelemusa is a reputation management expert
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