Dipndip canal walk did not want to pay me the balance of mu money

Hi everyone Please advise on the following matter .

" So I was subcontracted to supply and fabricate steel structures and carsaerstone at a franchise called dip n dip.i the beginning the franchise owners were a bit wayward in their communication with me and made all their demands through the main contractor. initial site meeting happened around the end of August,one of many to come before work commenced.not to mention the continuing changes and the pedantic behavior of the franchise owners. the main contractor who got the job through a friend if his, told me not to worry about money,and from my past dealings with sirahj I believed I would get paid. We were told work can only commence from 9pm to 7am as these are mall rules so I geared up my team for many night shifts to come. as the job commences in September the contractor walks out as there is a money dispute with the franchisee and a 3rd party. I went ahead and purchased all the steel structures and pure white quartz for the store .i mean even facial details changed 2 times costing me a whopping 13 000 rands. as the time went on and progress was made I asked for some money which was given to me by the contractor . as more and more progress was made the franchisee would tell me the few things he wanted and there was a communication between us. as the job headed to a closing I couldn't get money out of the main contractor as he said the franchisee running into financial trouble but will be sorted soon. still I motivated by the fact that the main contractor and I had history so I continued to pay my guys and materials from my pocket turns out most of the sub contractors did the same the dipndip was really being opened on the backs of poor struggling small business trying to make ends meet. while the franchisee enjoys make 5 to 15 000 per day ,cannot pay the subcontractors their money for making his franchise dream come alive in one of the biggest malls in capetown,CANAL WALK. I contacted the franchise owners and was told not to contact him as he had nothing to do with me and that i must basically go fly a kite. he mentioned that payment arrangements are made with the main contractor Not me. i confronted the main tractor and ge forwarded me a voice clip of the franchise acknowledgement of the debt owed seem these guys a are sweet ********(no pun intended). I'm out about 50 000 rand and he charges 400rand for a round of pancakes and a lot of people made that happen for them but yet they play dirty games."

What legal steps can we take.