KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Siboniso Duma announced on Wednesday that the South African Music Awards (SAMAs) have been cancelled following a public outcry from political parties in the province.

Duma spoke to the media after his department was cornered by ActionSA KZN chairperson Zwakele Mncwango, and other politicians, demanding the province give up on hosting the SAMAs, which would have cost about R28-million without the necessary approval.

Mncwango accused Duma’s department of diverting funds from other programmes which he said “in our view, lacked fiscal justification”.

“Furthermore, eThekwini municipality Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda’s unilateral committal of an additional R25-million for hosting the SAMAs was done without prior council approval. This led us to believe that this must be stopped,” he said.

Mncwango has also sent President Cyril Ramaphosa a letter asking to halt the event. 

Mncwango told Ramaphosa that ActionSA was deeply concerned that the cash-strapped KwaZulu-Natal provincial government and eThekwini municipality deemed it appropriate to fund a “vanity project rather than prioritise investment in the recovery efforts of a province still grappling with the devastating aftermath of the 2021 riots and the 2022 floods.

Duma, however, told the media that the decision to cancel the SAMAs followed extensive consultations.

He was of the view that the SAMAs were the hope and the source of income for artists in the province ahead of the festive season.

“Having said, for the record, we wish to reiterate the following points we have made consistently: the procurement process followed by the department to secure approval from Provincial Treasury for funding of the SAMA Awards was above board, transparent and free of any irregularities. Unfortunately, in the process of ensuring transparency, official and publicly available documents have been weaponised against the department to scandalise this national event with a global following,” said Duma.

He explained that the R28-million, and other figures being thrown around, were part of a campaign of disinformation that ware aimed at sowing confusion. 

He added that the actual amount that had been confirmed by Treasury and Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs was about R20-million before VAT, which he said was based on “our last consultation as we have repeatedly stated that we have ongoing consultations”.      

Mncwango said that from the outset ActionSA had asserted that “this was either an ill-advised attempt by the government to waste taxpayers’ money on a vanity project or a potentially sinister ploy, considering the absence of an itemised budget with accurate and substantiated figures”.

He reiterated that ActionSA would continue to fight against the wastage of taxpayer funds and ensure that the KZN government and eThekwini municipality prioritised service delivery and economic development.