The Lottery has stopped a grant for the lavishly funded once-a-year SATMA awards. Illustration: Lisa Nelson (SATMA logo superimposed in excess of primary illustration)
From 2019 to 2022 the South African Conventional Audio Awards acquired about R16-million in the Lottery.
But the Lottery has withheld payment from the 2023 grant subsequent an investigation.
The NLC has requested the Specific Investigating Unit to probe alleged “double dipping” in years where by funders aside from the NLC also chipped in to aid fund the awards.
The scale of funding for that once-a-year two night celebration is astonishing.
The Mpumalanga govt has funded the awards with over R41-million soon after it “was awarded the appropriate” to host the SATMA awards for 3 decades, commencing in the 2020/21 economic 12 months.
This has long been As well as Lottery funding.
The Nationwide Lotteries Commission (NLC) is refusing to pay for a R1.two-million grant it to begin with authorised for an yearly conventional music awards ceremony. The same party also been given tens of countless rand from your Mpumalanga provincial authorities.
From 2019 to 2022 the NLC awarded numerous grants totalling Virtually R16.four-million for the Mageza Heritage Basis, the organisers from the yearly South African Common Music Awards (SATMA).
Nonetheless it halted the payment of the 2023 grant immediately after an inside investigation.
GroundUp has exposed enormous corruption inside the NLC that occurred until finally the prior board and administration was replaced in 2022. The brand new NLC leadership is seeking to cleanse up the corruption in the earlier.
The NLC’s investigation focused on both of those the 2023 funding and previously grants awarded to Mageza to phase the awards. The investigation also probed a payment of more than R718,000, allegedly paid out from Lottery resources to G4 Brothers, of which Dumisani Gobe, the founder of the SATMA awards, is often a director.
Questioned if Mageza paid G4 a licencing or some other expenses to phase the awards, Goba said: “G4 was commissioned to accomplish a manufacture of the celebration and obtained compensated for people services, like to manage and produce the key occasion, roadshows, etc. I'm the founding father of the SATMA Awards; I am the one who needs to be compensated for developing the principle depending on affordability and what Mageza decides.”
The NLC has handed a file of its investigation for the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). It's got asked the SIU to research 4 distinct lottery-funded jobs that obtained grants concerning Oct 2020 and will 2023, and also the payment to G4 Brothers.
The NLC has also asked the SIU to probe alleged “double dipping” in a long time wherever funders in addition to the NLC also chipped in to assist fund the awards.
This includes a grant of R400,000 in the National Heritage Council and just more than R62,000 from “SABC Mobile” in 2020 - exactly the same monetary year in which the party gained Practically R2.6-million in lottery funding and R13.five-million from your Mpumalanga Department of Lifestyle, Sports activities and Recreation (MDCSR).
MDCSR funded the awards into the tune of in excess of R41-million following it “was awarded the ideal” to host the SATMA awards for three yrs, beginning inside the 2020/21 economical year.
The Mpumalanga federal government’s funding for SATMA around that period was substantially larger than grants to some other organisation for cultural initiatives and situations.
The MDSCR gave R3.five-million to SATMA during the 2019/twenty money 12 months ahead of ramping up its contribution soon after signing the arrangement to host the awards more than the next 3 a long time.
The entire budget submitted to your NLC when Mageza applied with the disputed 2023 SATMA funding was R1.2-million. But of the, only R500,000 was allocated for the actual staging of your function. Other line items while in the budget provided R400,000 for “staff salaries and Advantages”, R200,000 for “stipends” and R100,000 for “journey.”
The awards ended up held on fifteen December at the Durban Worldwide หุ้น ชอง 9 Conference Centre. Mageza states it urgently requires the blocked grant to pay the celebration’s service companies.
The SATMA awards, which were being initial held in 2006, are staged in excess of two evenings and it is unclear how the tens of hundreds of thousands in grants through the NLC, MDCSR and other funders were spent.
Desmond Msomi, the chairman of Mageza, did not reply to unique thoughts from GroundUp, such as the price of staging a SATMA awards ceremony.
Alternatively, he explained: “Your queries are mentioned. Nevertheless, we happen to be encouraged with the NLC that this subject is getting investigated by the SIU. For this reason, we can not reply to your questions right up until we've been advised the investigation has long been completed and the amount owed has become compensated to Mageza.”
Just after Mpumalanga “received the proper” to host the awards for three years, the then provincial Culture, Activity and Recreation MEC, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, explained it as “a boon” for that province.
“Internet hosting the SATMA Awards has optimistic economic spinoffs with the Mpumalanga coffers and it also talks into the Section’s mandate of selling social cohesion.”