THE South African Music Awards (Samas) used his name and picture, claiming he died in 2021.
Author and business coach Innocent Ximba from Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, said he was shocked to receive calls from worried family members and friends asking him about the incident.
The Samas took place on 27 and 28 August.
It was on the evening of the 27th that the awards show broadcasted Innocent during the tribute segment, where they gave a tribute to musicians who had died.
“My name, surname and my picture were broadcasted live on the tribute slot,” said Innocent.
He said he does not know how the Samas got hold of his names and picture.
“These people don’t even know me. Why would they put someone on their platform if they don’t even know that person? If they don’t know whether that person is a musician or not?”
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Innocent said the awards show should have contacted the families of the “deceased” musicians to ask for consent to use their pictures and names.
“You can’t just put people’s pictures there without written consent.”
He said he will open a case of defamation of character against the awards show since he has suffered mentally and emotionally because of the incident but is unable to pay for legal fees.
“Because of the Protection of Personal Information Act, I will be taking them to court and would like to get help with the legal fees since the lawyers want an upfront payment, or even maybe someone who can do the case pro-bono.”
Innocent assists schoolkids in preparation for the upcoming examinations and said because of this, he was asked to stop coming to the school because the news of the incident had reached the WhatsApp groups of the pupils.
“I’m already dealing with a lot. I am already answering to quite a lot of people, especially the institutions that I have been working with. I am so upset because they don’t even know me so, why on earth would they do this to me?” said Innocent.
He said the harassment has triggered suicidal thoughts and emotions.
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Even though he tried to ignore the incident, he said he has received harassment from people calling him and has been accused of being an attention seeker, ghost and impostor on social media.
“In the black community, accusations of ghosts and witchcraft are taken seriously and persons accused of such are usually killed by the community.”
Innocent said he has since moved from his home to seek shelter elsewhere as he fears for his life.
In response, Lesley Mofokeng from the South African Music Awards said: “We extend our humble apologies to Innocent Ximba whose image was used as part of a tribute to stars that have passed on at this weekend’s Sama28 live broadcast on SABC1.
“It has been brought to our attention that while the tribute was aimed for Mkhombeni Innocent Ximba who was born in Nquthu, a photo of a man named Innocent Ximba from Ekurhuleni was used by mistake. This is a human error that was introduced during production which relied on the internet to source pictures. Once again we apologise unreservedly to Innocent Ximba for the usage of his image and the inconvenience, distress or humiliation he and his family may have suffered,” said Mofokeng.
