The Lottery has stopped a grant towards the lavishly funded yearly SATMA awards. Illustration: Lisa Nelson (SATMA logo superimposed about original illustration)
From 2019 to 2022 the South African Regular Music Awards acquired around R16-million in the Lottery.
Though the Lottery has withheld payment of the 2023 grant subsequent an investigation.
The NLC has asked the Particular Investigating Unit to probe alleged “double dipping” in a long time in which funders aside from the NLC also chipped in to assist fund the awards.
The dimensions of funding to the annual two night time celebration is astonishing.
The Mpumalanga govt has funded the awards with in excess of R41-million right after it “was awarded the ideal” to host the SATMA awards for 3 years, beginning from the 2020/21 economic 12 months.
This has become As well as Lottery funding.
The Countrywide Lotteries Fee (NLC) is refusing to pay for a R1.2-million grant it to begin with permitted for an yearly common songs awards ceremony. The identical occasion also been given tens of many rand through the Mpumalanga provincial authorities.
From 2019 to 2022 the NLC awarded several grants totalling Just about R16.4-million to your Mageza Heritage Foundation, the organisers on the once-a-year South African Standard Music Awards (SATMA).
But it really halted the payment of the 2023 grant following an inside investigation.
GroundUp has uncovered massive corruption inside the NLC that occurred right up until the preceding board and management was replaced in 2022. The brand new NLC Management is trying to clear up the corruption on the previous.
The NLC’s investigation centered on both of those the 2023 funding and previously grants awarded to Mageza to stage the awards. The investigation also probed a payment of around R718,000, allegedly paid out from Lottery resources to G4 Brothers, of which Dumisani Gobe, the founding father of the SATMA awards, is actually a director.
Questioned if Mageza paid out G4 a licencing or any other costs to phase the awards, Goba reported: “G4 was commissioned to perform a creation of the occasion and acquired compensated for anyone products and services, like to manage and generate the leading party, roadshows, etc. I'm the founding father of the SATMA Awards; I am the one particular who needs to be compensated for building the thought dependant on affordability and what Mageza decides.”
The NLC has handed a dossier of its investigation towards the Special Investigating Device (SIU). It has requested the SIU to investigate 4 unique lottery-funded assignments that obtained grants concerning October 2020 and should 2023, in addition to the payment to G4 Brothers.
The NLC has also questioned the SIU to probe alleged “double dipping” in many years the place funders other than the NLC also chipped in to help you fund the awards.
This features a grant of R400,000 within the Countrywide Heritage Council and just more than R62,000 from “SABC Cellular” in 2020 - the same economic yr wherein the event received almost R2.six-million in lottery funding and R13.five-million within the Mpumalanga Office of Lifestyle, Sports activities and Recreation (MDCSR).
MDCSR funded the awards towards the tune of around R41-million immediately after it “was awarded the correct” to host the SATMA awards for 3 several years, beginning from the 2020/21 monetary 12 months.
The Mpumalanga authorities’s funding for SATMA about that interval was substantially increased than grants to another organisation for cultural projects and activities.
The MDSCR gave R3.5-million to SATMA from the 2019/twenty fiscal 12 months right before ramping up its contribution just after signing the settlement to host the awards around another 3 a long time.
The entire spending budget submitted into the NLC when Mageza utilized for your disputed 2023 SATMA funding was R1.two-million. But of this, only R500,000 was allocated for the particular staging on the occasion. Other line goods inside 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 in the Durban Worldwide ตัว หวย Convention Centre. Mageza suggests it urgently desires the blocked grant to pay for the function’s service companies.
The SATMA awards, which were being initial held in 2006, are staged about two evenings and it's unclear how the tens of thousands and thousands in grants within the NLC, MDCSR as well as other funders have been put in.
Desmond Msomi, the chairman of Mageza, did not respond to certain queries from GroundUp, including the cost of staging a SATMA awards ceremony.
Rather, he stated: “Your concerns are noted. However, we have been encouraged with the NLC that this make any difference is currently being investigated from the SIU. As a result, we are not able to respond to your inquiries until we have been encouraged that the investigation has become done and the amount owed has actually been compensated to Mageza.”
After Mpumalanga “won the correct” to host the awards for three several years, the then provincial Lifestyle, Sport and Recreation MEC, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, described it as “a boon” for your province.
“Hosting the SATMA Awards has good economic spinoffs with the Mpumalanga coffers and it also talks into the Section’s mandate of advertising and marketing social cohesion.”