AFTER-PART Y group violence and bottleneck-stabbing once more put the controversial Kwaito star, ‘The Dogg”, in the spotlight, especially considering his public march last year against violence in the music industry.

This past weekend, The Dogg and his entourage performed in Oranjemund at the Diamond Feast in commemoration of 75 years of the town’s existence, when violence erupted after the show The Dogg, real name Martin Morrocky, told Namibian Sun that he had nothing to do with the incident which saw two of his dancers charged with assaulting a police officer in the early hours of Sunday morning.

On Tuesday the well-known kwaito heavyweight said that, “I was not involved. I was never there. When we were leaving the town they stopped our Combi and said one of your guys stabbed a family member, they did not recognise anybody there,” he explained, and referred further questions to tour manager DJ Remind.

According to the Regional Commander of the Namibian Police in the Karas Region, Commissioner Josephat Abel, a Police force member who was called out to a street fight on that fateful morning has laid a charge of assault against two of the Dogg’s dancers. “The Police Officer, who stays near the recreation club, was called by a bystander to come and help put an end to the fight. The Dogg was not personally involved in the incident, but two members of his dance group were taken into custody and have been released on bail,” he said.

Allegedly the incident started at an after-party of the show where an argument broke out and 20-yearold Rahmonn du Toit was stabbed with a broken bottle, reportedly by members of The Dogg’s entourage. However no dancer has been specifically identified in connection with the incident.

According to DJ Remind, although two of the group members were questioned by Police after the stabbing incident, “the people involved (in the fight) were not part of our group. Two of our group members went to a party after the concert while the rest of us left to go and sleep. On their way back to the hotel, they walked past the place where the fight was taking place and stopped to watch. When the Police arrived, some of the fighters ran away.

The pair was some 200 meters from the fight. The police saw them there and asked them what they were doing there,” he said.

According to him, the two dancers said that they were on their way to the hotel, but the Police still took them in for questioning. “The police then came to find the rest of us sleeping at the hotel and confirmed that the dancers were booked there,” he said. Remind was adamant that no police officer was assaulted.

“They only resisted. They did not assault him, but they did not want to go to the Police station because they were innocent and wanted to go and sleep. They only told the officer that they were innocent,” he said. The Dogg says that he first became aware of the incident when the group was about to leave town.

“I don’t attend parties after performances anymore. Because of what has happened in the past, I go to bed as soon as possible after shows,” he said. DJ Remind spoke of a lady who accused them of harbouring the one who had stabbed her family member, but said that they denied that it was one of the group. “The boy that the Police accused of the attack was found in his room where he had already been sleeping,” he said.

“The man who was attacked could also not say who had stabbed him with the bottle,” he added, a fact confirmed by Commissioner Adel. “Both the father and the son were drunk anyway,” said The Dogg of the victims of the violence. It is alleged that first the son, and later the father, were both attacked by the same violent music fans.

The Dogg said that he was very concerned about how this would affect his reputation which has suffered damage in the past due to reports of violence. “None of my boys were involved in that,” he said. But he admitted that some of his fans may have been responsible.

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