The DJ Sbu fake 'Forbes' cover debacle
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The DJ Sbu fake 'Forbes' cover debacle

Updated | By Staff Writer

DJ Sbu is still making headlines after a fake pic of him on the cover of 'Forbes' magazine recently started circulating. Bongani caught up with him to get the back story, and things got heated.

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In case you missed all the fuss, a cover of Forbes Magazine with a pic of DJ Sbu and the words “MoFaya Made In Africa – Beverages from Africa and Produced in Africa” has been doing the rounds online. 

So there I am thinking, yoh! DJ Sbu has made the cover of Forbes! 

Then earlier this week the managing director of Forbes Africa, Chris Bishop, comes out and says, listen, DJ Sbu was never on the cover. 

I caught up with DJ Sbu to find out what the story is. 

I am sure you’re getting sick and tired of talking about this?
No, I am not getting sick and tired; I am excited because I am able to talk about MoFaya! [laughs] 

What I want to find out from you: were you on the cover of Forbes magazine?
About a year and a half ago, Forbes America, Forbes.com acknowledged myself, Trevor Noah and Bonang as young Africans to look out for. What Forbes does is they keep track and they follow you on the Internet – and [follow] the work that you continue to do. Now they had acknowledged me through the work I do through my company called Leadership 2020 promoting leadership, entrepreneurship and education - and the work I do through my foundation at schools and so forth. They started getting wind about my energy drink [MoFaya] late last year and then they acknowledged me;  they did a nice write-up article about not only me – it was about three start-up beverage companies making strides in Africa. The one company is based in Tanzania, the one company is based in Nigeria and then the third from South Africa – being MoFaya. So being a beautiful thing and an amazing achievement and a milestone, we all celebrated at the MoFaya offices and we shared the link of that interview on Forbes.com. 

Once I shared the link to the interview on social media, people started sharing congratulatory tweets and images on Instagram and Facebook and so on us – and memes happen all the time on social media. One of the memes that happened was a picture of me on the cover of Forbes. Now I’ve never said I was on the cover of Forbes – but I was featured by the magazine. Somebody Photoshopped the picture of me – and I actually liked it, I think they did a great job. So I started re-tweeting it and sharing it – but at no point did I ever say to anyone that I was on the cover. But I am acknowledged by Forbes.com. 

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Obviously I respect you as a businessman, I respect your hustle –and I think you’re very intelligent. But when you first saw the picture, did you not think you had a responsibility to say ‘listen guys, I like the picture, but I am actually not on the cover of Forbes’ – because the average South African thought you were on the cover of Forbes? Also, the way you re-tweeted and also put the picture on your Instagram – do you not think you endorsed a fabricated picture?
The issue here is not the picture – the issue is that a start-up South African company has made it onto Forbes international, Forbes.com in America – not Forbes Africa – Forbes.com. That’s the issue here. Now it’s interesting how the media focusses on what Forbes Africa is saying, but Forbes international endorsed our company, MoFaya, and it’s doing very well. It’s the fastest growing energy drink brand in the country, and it’s been acknowledged by an international platform and I think that’s what we need to celebrate as black business people… The issue is not a fabricated Forbes cover which I had nothing to do with; the issue is a start-up company, a black-owned start-up company, has been acknowledged internationally and that’s a big story. 

You still haven’t answered the question. I asked you a simple question: the way you acted by re-tweeting it, do you not think you endorsed a fabricated picture? 
The issue here is that a start-up South African company has made it to Forbes.com. That’s it. 

So by you re-tweeting it…
I retweet things all the time; I’ve got over half a million followers. I retweet memes of Kim Kardashian, Kanye West…people make fun and jokes all the time on social media. Now when my company is celebrated by Forbes.com that’s the issue that I need to focus on; I need to let people know that’s the issue at hand […] You guys are being blind by focussing on an allegation which I am not a part of. I’ve got no control over what people do and when people Photoshop my pictures out there. But what I’ve got control over is growing this small company…

DJ Sbu can I ask you one question:  do you not think you endorsed it?
Listen dude, when you retweet things – what do you retweet them for, for different reasons – right? I already said to you that it was beautiful artwork that those boys did – I liked it, and I retweeted it and I shared it with my followers of course – on Instagram and on Facebook as well. I had a meeting with Chris Bishop, and the type of conversation that we had with the Forbes people at the Forbes offices was beautiful because we touched on this issue for less than five minutes but for 45 minutes of the time we were talking about opportunities that are coming together for us collaborating and working together moving forward – which is the bigger vision here. You need to remember the type of fight I am fighting – I am fighting the fight for small businesses, I am fighting the fight for African kids who need to go to school, that’s what our energy drink stands for. Not an issue I have to answer here about a meme created by someone that I don’t know that I retweeted. 

Today's update is that after threatening legal action, it seems Forbes Africa and DJ Sbu have come to an amicable agreement – if these tweets are anything to go by: 

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