The Lottery has stopped a grant to the lavishly funded once-a-year 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 where funders aside from the NLC also chipped in that will help fund the awards.
The scale of funding for your yearly two evening function is astonishing.
The Mpumalanga governing administration has funded the awards with more than R41-million right after it “was awarded the best” to host the SATMA awards for three a long time, beginning within the 2020/21 monetary year.
This has been in addition to Lottery funding.
The Countrywide 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 function also been given tens of numerous rand within the Mpumalanga provincial authorities.

From 2019 to 2022 the NLC awarded various grants totalling almost R16.4-million for the Mageza Heritage Foundation, the organisers on the yearly South African Regular New music Awards (SATMA).

But it halted the payment of the 2023 grant after an interior investigation.

GroundUp has uncovered substantial corruption while in the NLC that came about right up until the prior board and administration was replaced in 2022. The brand new NLC leadership is attempting to cleanse up the corruption in the earlier.

The NLC’s investigation focused on both the 2023 funding and previously grants awarded to Mageza to phase the awards. The investigation also probed a payment of above R718,000, allegedly compensated from Lottery funds 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 some other service fees to phase the awards, Goba stated: “G4 was commissioned to perform a manufacture of the celebration and bought compensated for those solutions, like to manage and create the key occasion, roadshows, etc. I'm the founder of the SATMA Awards; I am the a person who needs to be compensated for developing the notion according to affordability and what Mageza decides.”

The NLC has handed a file of its investigation for the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). It's got asked the SIU to research 4 distinct lottery-funded jobs that obtained grants involving Oct 2020 and May 2023, and also the payment to G4 Brothers.

The NLC has also asked the SIU to probe alleged “double dipping” in a long time the place funders in addition to the NLC also chipped in to help fund the awards.

This includes a grant of R400,000 in the National Heritage Council and just more than R62,000 from “SABC Mobile” in 2020 - exactly the same monetary year in which the party gained Practically R2.6-million in lottery funding and R13.five-million through the Mpumalanga Department of Society, Sports activities and Recreation (MDCSR).

MDCSR funded the awards to the tune of about R41-million right after it “was awarded the right” to host the SATMA awards for three yrs, beginning while in the 2020/21 economical year.

The Mpumalanga federal government’s funding for SATMA around that period was substantially greater than grants to some other organisation for cultural initiatives and situations.

The MDSCR gave R3.five-million to SATMA during the 2019/twenty fiscal 12 months ahead of ramping up its contribution soon after signing the arrangement to host the awards more than another 3 a long time.

The total budget submitted to your NLC when Mageza applied with the disputed 2023 SATMA funding was R1.2-million. But of the, only R500,000 was allotted for the actual staging of your function. Other line merchandise while in the budget provided R400,000 for “staff salaries and benefits”, R200,000 for “stipends” and R100,000 for “travel.”

The awards have been held on fifteen December within the Durban International หวย ลาว ออก วัน นี้ สด Conference Centre. Mageza says it urgently desires the blocked grant to pay the function’s company companies.

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

Desmond Msomi, the chairman of Mageza, didn't reply to precise issues 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 issue is being investigated because of the SIU. Consequently, we cannot respond to your issues till we have been encouraged which the investigation is concluded and the quantity owed has been paid to Mageza.”

Right after Mpumalanga “gained the best” to host the awards for 3 several years, the then provincial Lifestyle, Sport and Recreation MEC, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, described it as “a boon” for the province.

“Web hosting the SATMA Awards has favourable financial spinoffs to the Mpumalanga coffers and Furthermore, it talks for the Department’s mandate of endorsing social cohesion.”