The Lottery has stopped a grant on the lavishly funded annual SATMA awards. Illustration: Lisa Nelson (SATMA emblem superimposed above unique illustration)

From 2019 to 2022 the South African Traditional Tunes Awards received above R16-million from your Lottery.
But the Lottery has withheld payment on the 2023 grant adhering to an investigation.
The NLC has asked the Distinctive Investigating Unit to probe alleged “double dipping” in many years where funders in addition to the NLC also chipped in that can help fund the awards.
The size of funding with the annual two evening event is astonishing.
The Mpumalanga authorities has funded the awards with about R41-million right after it “was awarded the right” to host the SATMA awards for three yrs, commencing within the 2020/21 money calendar year.
This is Besides Lottery funding.
The Countrywide Lotteries Fee (NLC) is refusing to pay for a R1.2-million grant it originally permitted for an yearly regular tunes awards ceremony. A similar party also received tens of millions of rand from the Mpumalanga provincial authorities.

From 2019 to 2022 the NLC awarded a number of grants totalling almost R16.4-million to the Mageza Heritage Basis, the organisers on the annual South African Regular Songs Awards (SATMA).

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

GroundUp has exposed significant corruption inside the NLC that passed off till the earlier board and administration was changed in 2022. The brand new NLC leadership is aiming to cleanse up the corruption of the past.

The NLC’s investigation centered on both of those the 2023 funding and before grants awarded to Mageza to phase the awards. The investigation also probed a payment of about R718,000, allegedly paid out from Lottery money to G4 Brothers, of which Dumisani Gobe, the founder of the SATMA awards, is actually a director.

Asked if Mageza compensated G4 a licencing or another expenses to stage the awards, Goba claimed: “G4 was commissioned to perform a creation of the event and acquired compensated for people companies, like to deal with and generate the main function, roadshows, etcetera. I am the founding father of the SATMA Awards; I'm the 1 who need to be compensated for building the concept according to affordability and what Mageza decides.”

The NLC has handed a dossier of its investigation to the Unique Investigating Device (SIU). It has requested the SIU to investigate 4 different lottery-funded jobs that gained grants among Oct 2020 and could 2023, as well as the payment to G4 Brothers.

The NLC has also questioned the SIU to probe alleged “double dipping” in several years exactly where funders besides the NLC also chipped in to aid fund the awards.

This features a grant of R400,000 through the Countrywide Heritage Council and just above R62,000 from “SABC Cell” in 2020 - precisely the same financial yr through which the celebration been given Nearly R2.6-million in lottery funding and R13.five-million in the Mpumalanga Department of Culture, Sports and Recreation (MDCSR).

MDCSR funded the awards to the tune of around R41-million following it “was awarded the proper” to host the SATMA awards for 3 several years, beginning during the 2020/21 economical 12 months.

The Mpumalanga authorities’s funding for SATMA about that time period was considerably greater than grants to almost every other organisation for cultural projects and gatherings.

The MDSCR gave R3.five-million to SATMA in the 2019/20 fiscal 12 months prior to ramping up its contribution soon after signing the arrangement to host the awards around another 3 decades.

The total budget submitted to the NLC when Mageza used to the disputed 2023 SATMA funding was R1.2-million. But of the, only R500,000 was allocated for the particular staging with the function. Other line products within the spending plan involved R400,000 for “personnel salaries and Gains”, R200,000 for “stipends” and R100,000 for “journey.”

The awards were being held on 15 December with the Durban Intercontinental ผล สลาก Conference Centre. Mageza states it urgently requires the blocked grant to pay the party’s provider providers.

The SATMA awards, which had been to start with held in 2006, are staged more than two nights and it is actually unclear how the tens of millions in grants through the NLC, MDCSR and various funders were invested.

Desmond Msomi, the chairman of Mageza, did not reply to unique questions from GroundUp, such as the price of staging a SATMA awards ceremony.

As a substitute, he claimed: “Your inquiries are famous. Nonetheless, we happen to be advised because of the NLC that this make any difference is currently being investigated from the SIU. Hence, we are not able to reply to your queries right until we're encouraged which the investigation has become done and the amount owed is 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” with the province.

“Web hosting the SATMA Awards has beneficial economic spinoffs for your Mpumalanga coffers and In addition, it talks for the Department’s mandate of promoting social cohesion.”