The Lottery has stopped a grant to your lavishly funded once-a-year SATMA awards. Illustration: Lisa Nelson (SATMA logo superimposed around unique illustration)
From 2019 to 2022 the South African Conventional Audio Awards gained around R16-million from your Lottery.
However the Lottery has withheld payment on the 2023 grant pursuing an investigation.
The NLC has questioned the Exclusive Investigating Unit to probe alleged “double dipping” in years where funders aside from the NLC also chipped in to help you fund the awards.
The scale of funding for your yearly two night time party is astonishing.
The Mpumalanga govt has funded the awards with more than R41-million following it “was awarded the best” to host the SATMA awards for 3 a long time, starting in the 2020/21 money calendar year.
This continues to be in addition to Lottery funding.
The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) is refusing to pay a R1.2-million grant it originally permitted for an yearly common new music awards ceremony. The identical function also acquired tens of a lot of rand with the Mpumalanga provincial federal government.
From 2019 to 2022 the NLC awarded many grants totalling Virtually R16.four-million on the Mageza Heritage Foundation, the organisers of your annual South African Common Songs Awards (SATMA).
But it really halted the payment of a 2023 grant following an inside investigation.
GroundUp has uncovered huge corruption from the NLC that took place right up until the previous board and management was replaced in 2022. The new NLC leadership is attempting to thoroughly clean up the corruption on the previous.
The NLC’s investigation focused on both the 2023 funding and before grants awarded to Mageza to phase the awards. The investigation also probed a payment of over R718,000, allegedly compensated from Lottery cash to G4 Brothers, of which Dumisani Gobe, the founder of the SATMA awards, is a director.
Questioned if Mageza paid G4 a licencing or another service fees to stage the awards, Goba said: “G4 was commissioned to carry out a manufacture of the event and bought paid for anyone services, like to handle and make the main event, roadshows, and so forth. I'm the founding father of the SATMA Awards; I'm the 1 who needs to be compensated for creating 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 investigate 4 diverse lottery-funded tasks that received grants between Oct 2020 and May 2023, as well as the payment to G4 Brothers.
The NLC has also requested the SIU to probe alleged “double dipping” in decades in which funders in addition to the NLC also chipped in to aid fund the awards.
This includes a grant of R400,000 within the Countrywide Heritage Council and just more than R62,000 from “SABC Mobile” in 2020 - a similar financial 12 months during which the celebration been given Nearly R2.6-million in lottery funding and R13.5-million in the Mpumalanga Department of Culture, Sports and Recreation (MDCSR).
MDCSR funded the awards to the tune of more than R41-million just after it “was awarded the appropriate” to host the SATMA awards for three yrs, beginning in the 2020/21 money yr.
The Mpumalanga governing administration’s funding for SATMA in excess of that period was substantially bigger than grants to some other organisation for cultural jobs and occasions.
The MDSCR gave R3.five-million to SATMA during the 2019/20 economic 12 months before ramping up its contribution right after signing the settlement to host the awards over the next a few many years.
The whole price range submitted for the NLC when Mageza applied for the disputed 2023 SATMA funding was R1.two-million. But of the, only R500,000 was allocated for the particular staging with the party. Other line merchandise within the price range incorporated R400,000 for “staff salaries and Added benefits”, R200,000 for “stipends” and R100,000 for “travel.”
The awards ended up held on 15 December with the Durban International หวย ออก Conference Centre. Mageza states it urgently requirements the blocked grant to pay for the occasion’s company companies.
The SATMA awards, which were 1st held in 2006, are staged more than two evenings and it is unclear how the tens of hundreds of thousands in grants from the NLC, MDCSR and also other funders were being spent.
Desmond Msomi, the chairman of Mageza, did not respond to specific inquiries from GroundUp, including the price of staging a SATMA awards ceremony.
Alternatively, he claimed: “Your issues are pointed out. However, we have been encouraged via the NLC this issue is currently being investigated because of the SIU. As a result, we are not able to respond to your thoughts until eventually we're encouraged the investigation has been accomplished and the quantity owed continues to be paid out to Mageza.”
After Mpumalanga “gained the proper” to host the awards for three yrs, the then provincial Society, Activity and Recreation MEC, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, explained it as “a boon” for the province.
“Hosting the SATMA Awards has good economic spinoffs for your Mpumalanga coffers and Furthermore, it talks into the Section’s mandate of advertising and marketing social cohesion.”