The Lottery has stopped a grant to your lavishly funded annual SATMA awards. Illustration: Lisa Nelson (SATMA brand superimposed above original illustration)
From 2019 to 2022 the South African Traditional Audio Awards obtained in excess of R16-million from the Lottery.
Although the Lottery has withheld payment of the 2023 grant next an investigation.
The NLC has questioned the Specific Investigating Unit to probe alleged “double dipping” in years where by funders besides the NLC also chipped in to help you fund the awards.
The scale of funding for that annual two evening celebration is astonishing.
The Mpumalanga govt has funded the awards with over R41-million immediately after it “was awarded the best” to host the SATMA awards for 3 decades, commencing inside the 2020/21 money calendar year.
This continues to be Along with Lottery funding.
The Nationwide Lotteries Commission (NLC) is refusing to pay a R1.two-million grant it in the beginning accepted for an annual standard music awards ceremony. The identical party also been given tens of many rand through the Mpumalanga provincial authorities.
From 2019 to 2022 the NLC awarded several grants totalling Practically R16.4-million to your Mageza Heritage Foundation, the organisers on the once-a-year South African Standard Tunes Awards (SATMA).
Nevertheless it halted the payment of the 2023 grant following an inside investigation.
GroundUp has exposed large corruption within the NLC that came about right until the previous board and management was replaced in 2022. The brand new NLC Management is seeking to thoroughly clean up the corruption from the previous.
The NLC’s investigation focused on both of those the 2023 funding and before grants awarded to Mageza to stage the awards. The investigation also probed a payment of more than R718,000, allegedly paid from Lottery funds to G4 Brothers, of which Dumisani Gobe, the founding father of the SATMA awards, is usually a director.
Requested if Mageza compensated G4 a licencing or some other fees to phase the awards, Goba explained: “G4 was commissioned to perform a creation of the occasion and bought paid for anyone solutions, like to control and create the primary function, roadshows, etc. I am the founder of the SATMA Awards; I am the just one who must be compensated for making the notion based upon affordability and what Mageza decides.”
The NLC has handed a file of its investigation to your Exclusive Investigating Unit (SIU). It's got asked the SIU to analyze four different lottery-funded jobs that gained grants concerning October 2020 and could 2023, together with the payment to G4 Brothers.
The NLC has also asked the SIU to probe alleged “double dipping” in decades the place funders apart from the NLC also chipped in to assist fund the awards.
This includes a grant of R400,000 within the National Heritage Council and just about R62,000 from “SABC Cell” in 2020 - the identical economical calendar year during which the function gained Pretty much R2.six-million in lottery funding and R13.five-million from your Mpumalanga Division of Tradition, Athletics and Recreation (MDCSR).
MDCSR funded the awards into the tune of around R41-million after it “was awarded the ideal” to host the SATMA awards for 3 several years, starting in the 2020/21 economical yr.
The Mpumalanga government’s funding for SATMA about that period was considerably greater than grants to another organisation for cultural initiatives and occasions.
The MDSCR gave R3.5-million to SATMA while in the 2019/twenty economical year ahead of ramping up its contribution after signing the settlement to host the awards around another a few decades.
The total budget submitted for the NLC when Mageza applied for the disputed 2023 SATMA funding was R1.two-million. But of this, only R500,000 was allocated for the particular staging on the function. Other line items in the spending plan involved R400,000 for “personnel salaries and Added benefits”, R200,000 for “stipends” and R100,000 for “travel.”
The awards were being held on 15 December in the Durban Intercontinental หุ้น ชอง 9 Convention Centre. Mageza says it urgently requirements the blocked grant to pay for the event’s assistance providers.
The SATMA awards, which ended up initial held in 2006, are staged about two evenings and it really is unclear how the tens of tens of millions in grants in the NLC, MDCSR together with other funders were being spent.
Desmond Msomi, the chairman of Mageza, did not respond to certain thoughts from GroundUp, such as the expense of staging a SATMA awards ceremony.
In its place, he said: “Your questions are noted. However, we have been encouraged with the NLC that this matter is staying investigated through the SIU. Hence, we are unable to respond to your inquiries until finally we have been encouraged that the investigation has actually been completed and the amount owed has become compensated to Mageza.”
After Mpumalanga “won the best” to host the awards for 3 decades, the then provincial Society, Activity and Recreation MEC, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, explained it as “a boon” for that province.
“Internet hosting the SATMA Awards has constructive economic spinoffs for your Mpumalanga coffers and In addition, it talks for the Department’s mandate of advertising social cohesion.”