THE South African Music Awards (SAMAs) organisers, the Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA), have expressed their disappointment after the KZN government withdrew the awards.
This is after KZN MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) Siboniso Duma announced on Wednesday, 25 October, that KZN would no longer host SAMA.
ActionSA questioned the controversial unplanned R28 million funding for SAMA by the KZN government.
Risa has released a statement saying they are disappointed about the eleventh-hour decision by KZN Edtea to withdraw from SAMA29.
The 29th SAMAs were set to take place at ICC in Durban on 17 and 18 November, and it was going to cost KZN province about R53 million as eThekwini Municipality was also committed to sponsoring it with R25 million.
“We have a three-year contract with EDTA and will be consulting with our contractual partners to find out what led to this decision and carve a way forward. As such, we will advise in due course what the next steps for SAMA29 will be.
“The SAMA remains the largest, most prestigious, inclusive, and representative music awards event in the South African music landscape. We continue to attract considerable attention and support as well as market-leading viewership among televised music awards shows across the continent," the statement read.
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Risa said they note with dismay that a prestigious, credible, and apolitical national cultural asset that has been in operation for 29 uninterrupted years, longer than any other award ceremony in Mzansi and the continent, has been characterised as a pipe for looting.
“This is an assertion that we as RiSA strongly rebuke. It is problematic that an institution of great importance to the pulse of our cultural economy has been violated for cheap politicking.
“What has been lost in all the resultant noise is the economic benefit of hosting a show of this magnitude for any city or province. The SAMA is not a superfluous party any such assertion flies in the face of the contribution made by the SAMA to Mzansi's golden economy.
“It stood to benefit the creative sector as well as to ignite a number of other economies, including tourism, hospitality, retail, transportation and the informal sector," Risa concluded. '
