27/10/2026
Kabza De Small fights former landlord over R100,000 deposit in R440,000 rental at The Leonardo
Amapiano star Kabza De Small is fighting to recover his R100,000 rental deposit from his former landlord, Zolile Abel Dlamini, in a legal dispute involving alleged unpaid rent of R440,000 at the luxury Leonardo residential building in Sandton, Johannesburg.
The award-winning producer, whose real name is Kabelo M***a, has filed a plea in the Johannesburg High Court denying that he owes the money. He argues that he lawfully terminated his lease agreement and vacated the apartment in July 2025, months before the contract was due to expire.
The dispute centres on a 12-month lease agreement signed on 30 January 2025, which was scheduled to run from 1 February 2025 until 31 January 2026. According to Dlamini, the agreement required the musician to pay R95,000 a month in rent, with a R100,000 deposit.
Dlamini claims that Kabza paid the agreed rental amount at the beginning of each month until early July 2025, after which payments allegedly became irregular. He says he and the property practitioner managing the apartment, Liso Nodikana, repeatedly followed up on outstanding payments.
The landlord alleges that the musician owes R440,000 in unpaid rent and claims he suffered damages of R540,000 following the alleged breach of the lease agreement.
However, Kabza disputes the claim, arguing that the amounts relate to a period after he had already terminated the lease and moved out. He maintains that he gave notice of termination in June 2025 through Nodikana, whom he considers authorised to receive the notice on the landlord’s behalf.
The musician argues that Nodikana negotiated and facilitated the lease, handled communications between the parties, issued monthly invoices for rent and utilities, and received payments on behalf of Dlamini.
Kabza says he paid the amounts reflected in the invoices into the property practitioner’s nominated account and argues that it was her responsibility to transfer the money to the landlord.
He also alleges that Dlamini failed to provide him with peaceful possession of the apartment and demanded rent before it was due, which he says caused him distress and contributed to his decision to terminate the agreement early.
According to Kabza, after the notice period expired, he vacated the apartment and the lease was cancelled. He further claims that Nodikana assisted with his move to another property and arranged for his electronic, biometric and parking access to the Leonardo apartment to be cancelled.
The musician therefore argues that his former landlord has no legal basis to retain the R100,000 deposit.
A separate point of contention involves two alleged proofs of payment for R50,000 and R110,000. Dlamini claims Kabza sent the documents to the property practitioner on 2 October 2025 to show that payments had been made. He alleges that the funds never reflected in the designated bank account and that the documents were fraudulent.
Dlamini says he opened a fraud case against the musician after the alleged discrepancies emerged. He further claims that communication with Kabza was cut off after the property practitioner confronted him about the missing payments.
Kabza denies sending the disputed proofs of payment, saying he does not recognise the bank account number reflected in the documents and that the account does not belong to him. He has also rejected the fraud allegations, describing them in his plea as “scandalous, vexatious, irrelevant and prejudicial” to his reputation.
The musician is asking the court to dismiss Dlamini’s claim with costs.
