ENTREPRENEUR and celebrity sangoma Romeo Malepe from Sharpeville, Vaal, has slammed fast-food outlet KFC for allegedly stealing his Sphatlho idea he apparently presented to the company's brand manager four years ago.
The allegations come after KFC announced that Mzansi's loved meal, Kentucky Sphatlho, would exclusively sell for R80 in Pretoria.
The limited edition is only available to KFC on Lynnwood Road in Tshwane from 18 to 28 May, and will feature seven other items on the Kentucky Town Pitori menu.
Following the announcement, Romeo revealed details suggesting he was the brain behind the idea in 2019.
"I presented the idea to the brand manager and he liked it. We even designed KFC sneakers in the presentation. We were supposed to speak to the rightful people, the KFC bosses, but that never happened," Romeo told Daily Sun.
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Romeo said the Sphatlho consisted of all KFC's ingredients he had bought and that his goal was to work with the franchise to bring his idea to life.
But when his idea landed on deaf ears, he apparently decided to register the name "Streetwise Kota", which allegedly received a backlash from the franchise.
"I posted those pictures on Facebook, and they caught fire. They were trending, and people were looking for this Streetwise Kota from KFC but couldn't find it.
"That pissed off KFC, which is why they came back and told me to delete those pictures, or they would sue me. So, I deleted them," he said.
His anger and frustrations are that the franchise had allegedly not acknowledged him for being the creative genius behind the idea.
But KFC has since dismissed the claims of stealing Romeo's idea.
"While we love South Africa's passion for KFC, we can confirm that this product was not a result of a concept presented to us by Romeo.
"For more than 50 years, KFC has been inspired by the South African heritage and culture and has regularly brought innovation like the Streetwise Chow, Masala Crunch and Mrs Ball's Chutney burger to our menu.
"It is no secret that the Sphatlho is a well-known South African meal, and the limited edition Sphatlho is a result of an extensive product development process aimed to be a KFC take on this South African classic," KFC said.
