Famous South African musician wins R7 million court case against Maserati

The award-winning South African musician Black Coffee has won a court case against the supercar brand Maserati over an undelivered vehicle.

In 2022, Black Coffee (real name Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo), bought a Maserati MC20 Coupe for approximately R7 million.

He decided to upgrade two years later, entering an agreement with the same Maserati South Africa dealership to trade in the vehicle for a customised, top-of-the-range MC20 Cielo valued at roughly R9 million.

The DJ, record producer, and songwriter said that the carmaker had offered him R7 million as a trade offer for his old vehicle and that a written and oral purchase agreement was concluded, reported TimesLive.

Black Coffee would pay the R2 million balance upon delivery of the new car, which was scheduled for July 2025.

However, the dealer later told him on 3 June that the custom vehicle was only set to go into production in August, with no estimated delivery date.

He argued that this was a breach of contract and requested to cancel the deal and repay the trade-in amount.

Court rules in favour of Black Coffee

The artist then alleged that the dealer had failed or refused to cancel the deal. Maserati denied the allegation, stating that a July 2026 delivery date had not been mutually agreed upon.

The luxury marque said that custom jobs take a minimum of 9 months to build and that Black Coffee hadn’t even finalised his customisation details.

It said he had selected colours, interior trim, and brake calipers that were not included in the quotation and that he was required to confirm the specifications before Maserati’s head office could approve them and set an estimated date of delivery.

Maserati therefore argued that it was not in breach of any agreement and that, without the purchase of the new vehicle, the trade-in amount was not valued at R7 million.

The Johannesburg High Court ruled in favour of Black Coffee, who entered legal proceedings under his company Soulistic Music.

While the court order did provide a detailed explanation for the ruling, Maserati was ordered to pay Soulistic Music R7 million for the deal.

Additionally, the carmaker was ordered to pay interest calculated at 10.5% a year from 22 August 2025 until the amount is fully paid off.