The Lottery has stopped a grant to the lavishly funded yearly SATMA awards. Illustration: Lisa Nelson (SATMA symbol superimposed in excess of primary illustration)

From 2019 to 2022 the South African Classic New music Awards acquired 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 Specific Investigating Device to probe alleged “double dipping” in a long time where funders besides the NLC also chipped in to aid fund the awards.
The dimensions of funding for your yearly two evening celebration is astonishing.
The Mpumalanga authorities has funded the awards with about R41-million following it “was awarded the best” to host the SATMA awards for three several years, starting inside the 2020/21 fiscal yr.
This is Together with Lottery funding.
The Nationwide Lotteries Commission (NLC) is refusing to pay for a R1.2-million grant it to begin with accredited for an annual regular songs awards ceremony. The same celebration also acquired tens of countless rand within the Mpumalanga provincial govt.

From 2019 to 2022 the NLC awarded numerous grants totalling almost R16.4-million on the Mageza Heritage Basis, the organisers from the annual South African Classic New music Awards (SATMA).

Nonetheless it halted the payment of the 2023 grant following an inside investigation.

GroundUp has uncovered significant corruption in the NLC that occurred until eventually the past board and management was replaced in 2022. The brand new NLC Management is trying to clear up the corruption in the past.

The NLC’s investigation focused on both the 2023 funding and before grants awarded to Mageza to stage 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 really a director.

Requested if Mageza compensated G4 a licencing or every other service fees to phase the awards, Goba mentioned: “G4 was commissioned to try and do a creation of the event and received paid for anyone expert services, like to deal with and produce the primary occasion, roadshows, and so on. I'm the founding father of the SATMA Awards; I am the a single who has to be compensated for producing the idea based on affordability and what Mageza decides.”

The NLC has handed a file of its investigation towards the Special Investigating Device (SIU). It's questioned the SIU to research 4 diverse lottery-funded tasks that been given grants amongst Oct 2020 and will 2023, in addition to the payment to G4 Brothers.

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

This features a grant of R400,000 in the Nationwide Heritage Council and just over R62,000 from “SABC Cellular” in 2020 - a similar economic 12 months where the event obtained Nearly R2.six-million in lottery funding and R13.five-million through the Mpumalanga Division of Culture, Sporting activities and Recreation (MDCSR).

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

The Mpumalanga authorities’s funding for SATMA about that interval was significantly larger than grants to almost every other organisation for cultural jobs and events.

The MDSCR gave R3.five-million to SATMA in the 2019/twenty economical calendar year before ramping up its contribution right after signing the agreement to host the awards more than the next a few yrs.

The whole price range submitted towards the NLC when Mageza used for that disputed 2023 SATMA funding was R1.2-million. But of the, only R500,000 was allocated for the particular staging in the event. Other line products within the budget bundled R400,000 for “personnel salaries and benefits”, R200,000 for “stipends” and R100,000 for “journey.”

The awards were held on 15 December at the Durban Worldwide luckyvip77 Conference Centre. Mageza states it urgently needs the blocked grant to pay the party’s support vendors.

The SATMA awards, which had been 1st held in 2006, are staged around two nights and it really is unclear how the tens of tens of millions in grants from the NLC, MDCSR and also other funders ended up expended.

Desmond Msomi, the chairman of Mageza, didn't respond to certain inquiries from GroundUp, including the cost of staging a SATMA awards ceremony.

As an alternative, he mentioned: “Your concerns are noted. However, we are actually recommended from the NLC this issue is getting investigated by the SIU. For this reason, we are not able to reply to your inquiries till we have been encouraged that the investigation has become done and the amount owed has actually been compensated to Mageza.”

Following Mpumalanga “gained the best” to host the awards for 3 decades, the then provincial Society, Sport and Recreation MEC, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, explained it as “a boon” with the province.

“Web hosting the SATMA Awards has favourable financial spinoffs to the Mpumalanga coffers and What's more, it talks on the Division’s mandate of marketing social cohesion.”