‘Cancelling the SAMAs is a big mistake’ – Celebrities react to KZN withdrawing from the awards

To the shock of musicians, creatives and South Africans countrywide, the 29th South African Music Awards’ (SAMAs) future is hanging in the balance.

This comes after KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Siboniso Duma’s media briefing on 25 October 2023 where he announced their withdrawal of financial support for the SAMAs.

The SAMAs have mostly been held at the Sun City Resort’s Super Bowl in the North West province, with the KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Authority announcing the ceremony’s move to the Durban International Convention Centre scheduled to take place for a live broadcast on 17 and 18 November 2023.

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Speaking at the media briefing, MEC Siboniso shared that the estimated value of spend of the province towards the SAMAs is approximately R20 million before value added tax (VAT).

“As an executive authority, I have been consulted widely with the executive council and other stakeholders, I’ve advised the department to stop the hosting of the South African Music Awards this year,” Siboniso explains.

Many citizens viewed the province’s spend on the SAMAs as polarising due to the heavy rains and floods that rendered many families homeless.

The Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA) released a statement on 25 October outlining their disappointment and dismay at learning that the KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs will withdraw from this year’s SAMAs, a decision they state they only learnt of at “the eleventh hour”.

“We 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 South Africa and the continent, has been characterised as a conduit for looting.

“This 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,” says Nhlanhla Sibisi, RiSA CEO, in the statement.

From Zakes Bantwini to DJ Tira, artists, creatives and supporters took to social media to share their views on KZN pulling out of funding for the awards ceremony and the looming possibility of the SAMAs’ cancellation: