The Lottery has stopped a grant on the lavishly funded annual SATMA awards. Illustration: Lisa Nelson (SATMA emblem superimposed around original illustration)
From 2019 to 2022 the South African Standard Songs Awards obtained over R16-million from the Lottery.
Nevertheless the Lottery has withheld payment from the 2023 grant pursuing an investigation.
The NLC has asked the Special Investigating Unit to probe alleged “double dipping” in years the place funders apart from the NLC also chipped in that will help fund the awards.
The scale of funding to the yearly two evening party is astonishing.
The Mpumalanga authorities has funded the awards with in excess of R41-million just after it “was awarded the right” to host the SATMA awards for three years, commencing during the 2020/21 economical calendar year.
This has long been in addition to Lottery funding.
The Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) is refusing to pay for a R1.2-million grant it initially authorised for an yearly traditional tunes awards ceremony. Precisely the same occasion also been given tens of a lot of rand from your Mpumalanga provincial government.
From 2019 to 2022 the NLC awarded various grants totalling Practically R16.four-million for the Mageza Heritage Basis, the organisers of the annual South African Regular New music Awards (SATMA).
Nonetheless it halted the payment of a 2023 grant right after an internal investigation.
GroundUp has uncovered huge corruption from the NLC that occurred right until the prior board and management was replaced in 2022. The brand new NLC leadership is attempting to thoroughly clean up the corruption in the past.
The NLC’s investigation centered on both the 2023 funding and before grants awarded to Mageza to phase the awards. The investigation also probed a payment of in excess of R718,000, allegedly compensated from Lottery cash to G4 Brothers, of which Dumisani Gobe, the founder of the SATMA awards, is actually a director.
Asked if Mageza compensated G4 a licencing or any other service fees to phase the awards, Goba said: “G4 was commissioned to accomplish a creation of the celebration and got paid out for anyone companies, like to deal with and make the main occasion, roadshows, and so forth. I am the founding father of the SATMA Awards; I am the a person who have to be compensated for creating the notion dependant on affordability and what Mageza decides.”
The NLC has handed a dossier of its investigation for the Exclusive Investigating Device (SIU). It's got questioned the SIU to analyze 4 diverse lottery-funded initiatives that gained grants concerning October 2020 and May 2023, along with the payment to G4 Brothers.
The NLC has also questioned the SIU to probe alleged “double dipping” in many years exactly where funders in addition to the NLC also chipped in that can help fund the awards.
This features a grant of R400,000 in the Nationwide Heritage Council and just over R62,000 from “SABC Cellular” in 2020 - the same economical yr where the event received Virtually R2.six-million in lottery funding and R13.five-million within the Mpumalanga Office of Society, Sporting activities and Recreation (MDCSR).
MDCSR funded the awards to the tune of more than R41-million soon after it “was awarded the correct” to host the SATMA awards for 3 yrs, beginning in the 2020/21 economical 12 months.
The Mpumalanga federal government’s funding for SATMA over that period of time was significantly larger than grants to another organisation for cultural assignments and events.
The MDSCR gave R3.5-million to SATMA during the 2019/twenty monetary yr right before ramping up its contribution after signing the agreement to host the awards over another 3 several years.
The overall budget submitted to the NLC when Mageza used for that disputed 2023 SATMA funding was R1.2-million. But of this, only R500,000 was allotted for the particular staging with the function. Other line items during the funds included R400,000 for “personnel salaries and Added benefits”, R200,000 for “stipends” and R100,000 for “travel.”
The awards have been held on fifteen December at the Durban Global ตรวจ รางวัล Convention Centre. Mageza suggests it urgently desires the blocked grant to pay the celebration’s support vendors.
The SATMA awards, which had been to start with held in 2006, are staged above two evenings and it is actually unclear how the tens of hundreds of thousands in grants with the NLC, MDCSR along with other funders ended up used.
Desmond Msomi, the chairman of Mageza, didn't reply to unique thoughts from GroundUp, such as the expense of staging a SATMA awards ceremony.
Instead, he said: “Your questions are pointed out. Having said that, we are actually recommended through the NLC this subject is getting investigated by the SIU. For this reason, we can not reply to your concerns right until we're recommended which the investigation is concluded and the quantity owed has been paid out to Mageza.”
Immediately after Mpumalanga “received the proper” to host the awards for three many years, the then provincial Tradition, Sport and Recreation MEC, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, explained it as “a boon” for the province.
“Web hosting the SATMA Awards has positive financial spinoffs for that Mpumalanga coffers and What's more, it talks to your Division’s mandate of marketing social cohesion.”