The Lottery has stopped a grant to your lavishly funded yearly SATMA awards. Illustration: Lisa Nelson (SATMA brand superimposed around initial illustration)

From 2019 to 2022 the South African Common Tunes Awards obtained over R16-million within the Lottery.
Though the Lottery has withheld payment on the 2023 grant following an investigation.
The NLC has requested the Distinctive Investigating Unit to probe alleged “double dipping” in yrs exactly where funders aside from the NLC also chipped in to help fund the awards.
The scale of funding for your yearly two evening function is astonishing.
The Mpumalanga government has funded the awards with more than R41-million soon after it “was awarded the best” to host the SATMA awards for three a long time, beginning in the 2020/21 financial calendar year.
This has actually been Besides Lottery funding.
The Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) is refusing to pay a R1.two-million grant it originally authorized for an once-a-year conventional new music awards ceremony. Precisely the same party also acquired tens of millions of rand through the Mpumalanga provincial governing administration.

From 2019 to 2022 the NLC awarded numerous grants totalling Just about R16.four-million into the Mageza Heritage Basis, the organisers of the annual South African Standard Songs Awards (SATMA).

Nonetheless it halted the payment of a 2023 grant soon after an inner investigation.

GroundUp has exposed massive corruption in the NLC that took place until the former board and management was changed in 2022. The new NLC Management is aiming to thoroughly clean up the corruption of your previous.

The NLC’s investigation centered on equally the 2023 funding and before grants awarded to Mageza to stage the awards. The investigation also probed a payment of about R718,000, allegedly paid from Lottery cash to G4 Brothers, of which Dumisani Gobe, the founding father of the SATMA awards, is really a director.

Requested if Mageza compensated G4 a licencing or any other charges to stage the awards, Goba claimed: “G4 was commissioned to do a production of the occasion and acquired paid out for anyone expert services, like to deal with and develop the most crucial celebration, roadshows, and many others. I am the founder of the SATMA Awards; I'm the one particular who have to be compensated for producing the concept dependant on affordability and what Mageza decides.”

The NLC has handed a dossier of its investigation to the Exclusive Investigating Unit (SIU). It's questioned the SIU to investigate 4 different lottery-funded assignments that received grants amongst Oct 2020 and could 2023, plus the payment to G4 Brothers.

The NLC has also questioned the SIU to probe alleged “double dipping” in years in which funders besides the NLC also chipped in that will help fund the awards.

This features a grant of R400,000 from the Countrywide Heritage Council and just over R62,000 from “SABC Cell” in 2020 - the same financial calendar year wherein the celebration acquired Virtually R2.six-million in lottery funding and R13.5-million in the Mpumalanga Office of Tradition, Sports and Recreation (MDCSR).

MDCSR funded the awards to your tune of above R41-million after it “was awarded the best” to host the SATMA awards for 3 a long time, starting in the 2020/21 fiscal calendar year.

The Mpumalanga government’s funding for SATMA above that period of time was significantly bigger than grants to every other organisation for cultural tasks and functions.

The MDSCR gave R3.5-million to SATMA inside the 2019/20 monetary year prior to ramping up its contribution following signing the agreement to host the awards around the subsequent three years.

The full finances submitted for the NLC when Mageza used to the disputed 2023 SATMA funding was R1.two-million. But of this, only R500,000 was allotted for the particular staging on the event. Other line objects in the funds included R400,000 for “personnel salaries and Added benefits”, R200,000 for “stipends” and R100,000 for “vacation.”

The awards were held on 15 December on the Durban Global ตรวจ หวย ลาว Convention Centre. Mageza suggests it urgently demands the blocked grant to pay for the occasion’s company providers.

The SATMA awards, which have been first held in 2006, are staged above two evenings and it is actually unclear how the tens of millions in grants through the NLC, MDCSR and various funders were spent.

Desmond Msomi, the chairman of Mageza, didn't 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't reply to your questions right up until we've been advised the investigation has actually been completed and the amount owed has become paid out to Mageza.”

Just after Mpumalanga “received the proper” to host the awards for three many years, the then provincial Culture, Sport and Recreation MEC, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, explained it as “a boon” for that province.

“Internet hosting the SATMA Awards has constructive economic spinoffs for the Mpumalanga coffers and Additionally, it talks to the Office’s mandate of advertising and marketing social cohesion.”