South Africa: Ramaphosa Cuts South African Music Awards Funding

25 October 2023
Scrolla (Johannesburg)
By Celani Sikhakhane

The South African Music Awards are facing financial struggles after President Cyril Ramaphosa advised the KwaZulu-Natal government against splashing R28 million on the ceremony.

The eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality has also cancelled a crucial meeting where they were expected to authorise an additional R25 million on top of the R28 million from the province to fund the event.

This comes after ActionSA in KZN told the president that the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environment Affairs were planning to spend R28 million of taxpayers' money on a one-night event while the province is struggling to bring services to the people.

The president's spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told TimesLive that the president advised MEC Duma against such spending in the interest of maintaining financial discipline.

"MECs report to premiers, the president does not get involved in the day-to-day running of Provincial Departments. However, the president did advise MEC Duma against such spending in the interest of maintaining fiscal discipline," said Magwenya.

In July, SAMA organisers were struggling to secure sponsorship to fund the ceremony until the KZN government announced its R28 million donation after they requested R8 million in funding.

ActionSA leader in KZN Zwakele Mncwango told Scrolla.Africa he wrote to Ramaphosa as the ANC president to intervene in his comrades' splashing of public funds on a one-night event.

"We were supposed to attend the council meeting in EThekwini Municipality this morning where the proposed R25 million would have been tabled but the meeting has been cancelled," said Mncwango.

Mncwango believed that the rest of the funds were going to be used for the election campaign ahead of the 2024 general elections.

He said the event organisers wanted only R8 million but the KZN government decided to commit R28 million.

The funds were taken from Ithala Bank and other government programmes.

Leader of African Democratic Change (ADeC) Visvin Reddy said they welcome the decision by Ramaphosa to halt the lavish spending of over R53 million on the South African Music Awards.

The DA has already taken the matter to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

MEC Sboniso Duma's spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya could not be reached for comment.

Read the original article on Scrolla.

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