“The SAMAs Is Not a Superfluous Party”: South African Opinion Polarised as the SAMA Awards Suffer Last-Minute Cancellation
Mzansi’s longest-running award show, the South African Music Awards (SAMAs) have suffered yet another setback, with their fate hanging in the balance after the Department of Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) in KwaZulu-Natal cancelled their participation.
South Africa’s most beloved and prestigious award show was set for its twenty-ninth edition this coming November, its very first in KZN. The award ceremony was set to cost the province close to R30 million, a discovery for which the event and the province came under fire for.
“The Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA), the organiser of the South African Music Awards (SAMA) learnt with disappointment this morning of the eleventh hour decision by the Department of Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) in KwaZulu-Natal to withdraw from the SAMA29,” the official press statement from RiSA stated.
Although the government has been flagged for its looting tendencies, RiSA defended the partnership, slamming detractors of the award show by asserting that “the SAMA is not a superfluous party” used as a “conduit for looting.” The organisation lamented the negative impact the cancellation of the event would have on the economy and the culture of the country as a whole.
Read statement
“What has been lost in all the resultant noise are the economic benefits 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 contribution made by the SAMA to the Mzansi 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,” said the statement.
The news of this cancellation has been met with favourable reception from netizens who took to X (Twitter) to express their opinions.
@EdwardthembaSA posted: “Dear ANC, really? R20m for the #SAMAS?? Wow…
How much is the province spending for displaced citizens due to floods?? Have the potholes been fixed? Sewage running into beaches? C’mon guys, where are your priorities?? This was gonna be a comrades fashion show…..”
@EFFKZN added their own sentiments, posting a statement which said: “We welcome this bold decision especially since there was no clear programme of action as to how these awards will empower grassroot artists. This was just blatant abuse of resources and misuse of political power.”
Other tweeps weren’t so pleased, feeling that the cancellation would negatively impact artists who would’ve been pleased by the commencement of the award show.
@BekithembaZ said: “South African musicians are the most influential beings in the arts industry in this country. As much as we can blame the KZN government/RISA for a lot going wrong, they (musicians, producers, composers, DJs, etc) need to WANT [SIC] the SAMAs to happen. They must use their influence.”
