The Lottery has stopped a grant to your lavishly funded annual SATMA awards. Illustration: Lisa Nelson (SATMA brand superimposed in excess of original illustration)
From 2019 to 2022 the South African Standard Tunes Awards been given around R16-million within the Lottery.
Although the Lottery has withheld payment on the 2023 grant subsequent an investigation.
The NLC has asked the Particular Investigating Device to probe alleged “double dipping” in decades wherever funders besides the NLC also chipped in to help you fund the awards.
The size of funding with the yearly two night celebration is astonishing.
The Mpumalanga governing administration has funded the awards with about R41-million soon after it “was awarded the right” to host the SATMA awards for three a long time, beginning in the 2020/21 money year.
This is In combination with Lottery funding.
The Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) is refusing to pay a R1.2-million grant it initially authorized for an once-a-year regular tunes awards ceremony. A similar celebration also acquired tens of an incredible number of rand through the Mpumalanga provincial federal government.
From 2019 to 2022 the NLC awarded numerous grants totalling Nearly R16.four-million for the Mageza Heritage Foundation, the organisers of the annual South African Regular Music Awards (SATMA).
But it surely halted the payment of a 2023 grant after an inside investigation.
GroundUp has uncovered enormous corruption in the NLC that came about until the prior board and management was changed in 2022. The brand new NLC Management is aiming to clean up the corruption from the past.
The NLC’s investigation focused on each the 2023 funding and earlier grants awarded to Mageza to phase the awards. The investigation also probed a payment of over R718,000, allegedly compensated from Lottery funds to G4 Brothers, of which Dumisani Gobe, the founder of the SATMA awards, is a director.
Questioned if Mageza compensated G4 a licencing or some other costs to phase the awards, Goba mentioned: “G4 was commissioned to complete a manufacture of the event and received compensated for those services, like to handle and develop the key party, roadshows, and many others. I'm the founding father of the SATMA Awards; I'm the 1 who have to be compensated for developing the strategy according to affordability and what Mageza decides.”
The NLC has handed a file of its investigation to the Unique Investigating Device (SIU). It's questioned the SIU to analyze four distinct lottery-funded tasks that received grants concerning Oct 2020 and will 2023, in addition to the payment to G4 Brothers.
The NLC has also asked the SIU to probe alleged “double dipping” in yrs in which funders apart from the NLC also chipped in to assist fund the awards.
This includes a grant of R400,000 within the Countrywide Heritage Council and just about R62,000 from “SABC Mobile” in 2020 - a similar financial calendar year during which the function gained Just about R2.6-million in lottery funding and R13.5-million in the Mpumalanga Department of Society, Sports activities and Recreation (MDCSR).
MDCSR funded the awards for the tune of around R41-million right after it “was awarded the proper” to host the SATMA awards for 3 several years, beginning in the 2020/21 financial calendar year.
The Mpumalanga governing administration’s funding for SATMA about that period of time was substantially increased than grants to every other organisation for cultural projects and situations.
The MDSCR gave R3.5-million to SATMA during the 2019/20 financial yr before ramping up its contribution immediately after signing the settlement to host the awards more than the next three a long time.
The whole finances submitted to your NLC when Mageza utilized to the disputed 2023 SATMA funding was R1.two-million. But of this, only R500,000 was allocated for the actual staging from the function. Other line objects inside the spending budget incorporated R400,000 for “personnel salaries and Gains”, R200,000 for “stipends” and R100,000 for “journey.”
The awards were held on 15 December at the Durban Global ruay Conference Centre. Mageza says it urgently requires the blocked grant to pay the event’s services vendors.
The SATMA awards, which had been to start with held in 2006, are staged in excess of two evenings and it truly is unclear how the tens of millions in grants with the NLC, MDCSR together with other funders were put in.
Desmond Msomi, the chairman of Mageza, didn't reply to specific queries from GroundUp, including the price of staging a SATMA awards ceremony.
As a substitute, he said: “Your questions are noted. Nevertheless, we have already been advised by the NLC this subject is currently being investigated through the SIU. Consequently, we can't reply to your queries till we've been recommended which the investigation is done and the amount owed has actually been paid to Mageza.”
Immediately after Mpumalanga “received 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 that province.
“Web hosting the SATMA Awards has favourable financial spinoffs with the Mpumalanga coffers and it also talks to the Office’s mandate of promoting social cohesion.”