The Lottery has stopped a grant towards the lavishly funded once-a-year SATMA awards. Illustration: Lisa Nelson (SATMA logo superimposed more than initial illustration)
From 2019 to 2022 the South African Standard Tunes Awards gained in excess of R16-million through the Lottery.
Although the Lottery has withheld payment with the 2023 grant adhering to an investigation.
The NLC has questioned the Distinctive Investigating Unit to probe alleged “double dipping” in years wherever funders apart from the NLC also chipped in to assist fund the awards.
The size of funding for the yearly two night time occasion is astonishing.
The Mpumalanga government has funded the awards with in excess of R41-million after it “was awarded the correct” to host the SATMA awards for three a long time, beginning within the 2020/21 monetary year.
This has been Along with Lottery funding.
The Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) is refusing to pay for a R1.2-million grant it at first approved for an yearly standard music awards ceremony. The same celebration also obtained tens of millions of rand through the Mpumalanga provincial authorities.
From 2019 to 2022 the NLC awarded quite a few grants totalling Practically R16.four-million towards the Mageza Heritage Foundation, the organisers with the annual South African Conventional Audio Awards (SATMA).
But it really halted the payment of the 2023 grant following an inner investigation.
GroundUp has exposed huge corruption inside the NLC that occurred until finally the prior board and administration was replaced in 2022. The new NLC Management is trying to clean up the corruption from the earlier.
The NLC’s investigation focused on each the 2023 funding and before 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 founder of the SATMA awards, is often a director.
Questioned if Mageza paid G4 a licencing or any other expenses to phase the awards, Goba stated: “G4 was commissioned to carry out a production of the celebration and bought paid out for the people expert services, like to manage and develop the key event, roadshows, etcetera. I am the founder of the SATMA Awards; I am the one who needs to be compensated for creating the idea determined by affordability and what Mageza decides.”
The NLC has handed a dossier of its investigation on the Distinctive Investigating Device (SIU). It's got requested the SIU to research four different lottery-funded projects that acquired grants in between Oct 2020 and should 2023, together with the payment to G4 Brothers.
The NLC has also questioned the SIU to probe alleged “double dipping” in decades exactly where funders in addition to the NLC also chipped in that will help fund the awards.
This includes a grant of R400,000 within the National Heritage Council and just around R62,000 from “SABC Mobile” in 2020 - a similar monetary yr through which the function gained Pretty much R2.6-million in lottery funding and R13.five-million from the Mpumalanga Department of Society, Sporting activities and Recreation (MDCSR).
MDCSR funded the awards into the tune of about R41-million after it “was awarded the proper” to host the SATMA awards for 3 several years, beginning during the 2020/21 fiscal calendar year.
The Mpumalanga govt’s funding for SATMA more than that period of time was substantially larger than grants to another organisation for cultural tasks and gatherings.
The MDSCR gave R3.5-million to SATMA within the 2019/20 economic 12 months in advance of ramping up its contribution after signing the settlement to host the awards around another a few yrs.
The overall funds submitted for the NLC when Mageza applied for the disputed 2023 SATMA funding was R1.two-million. But of this, only R500,000 was allotted for the actual staging of your function. Other line products in the finances incorporated R400,000 for “staff salaries and Advantages”, R200,000 for “stipends” and R100,000 for “vacation.”
The awards were held on 15 December with the Durban Intercontinental cat888 Conference Centre. Mageza says it urgently desires the blocked grant to pay for the function’s company companies.
The SATMA awards, which ended up first held in 2006, are staged in excess of two evenings and it is actually unclear how the tens of hundreds of thousands in grants through the NLC, MDCSR and various funders were spent.
Desmond Msomi, the chairman of Mageza, didn't reply to precise thoughts from GroundUp, such as the price of staging a SATMA awards ceremony.
As an alternative, he mentioned: “Your concerns are noted. However, we are actually recommended from the NLC this subject is becoming investigated via the SIU. That's why, we can't reply to your concerns until eventually we are suggested the investigation has long been completed and the amount owed is paid out to Mageza.”
Immediately after Mpumalanga “received the ideal” to host the awards for 3 decades, the then provincial Society, Activity and Recreation MEC, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, described it as “a boon” for your province.
“Hosting the SATMA Awards has good financial spinoffs for that Mpumalanga coffers and What's more, it talks on the Division’s mandate of advertising social cohesion.”