Fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has denied appropriating a dish from South African sangoma and entrepreneur, Romeo Malepe.

KFC South Africa announced the introduction of the Kentucky Sphatlho to its limited edition of the Kentucky Town Pitori menu via Twitter on Monday, 15 May. The big sandwich – known locally as a “kota” – features multiple ingredients stuffed into a quarter loaf of bread that can be wrapped up for convenient, on the go consumption.

However, a furious Malepe took to Facebook the following day to claim that the idea belonged to him and Sharpeville Food Festival. In the post, he went on to explain that he had pitched his idea for a “Streetwise Kota” to the mega-corporation in 2019.

“In the presentation, we had designed sneakers as well as other items we had pitched that should be sold during activations,” the celebrity sangoma told an international publication on Wednesday, 17 May.

Lawyers representing KFC strongly disagreed with Malepe’s side of the story, telling the same news outlet that “We can confirm that this product was not as a result of a concept presented to us by Romeo.

“The limited edition Sphatlho is a result of an extensive product development process – aimed to be a KFC take on this South African classic,” they added.

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