SA: Kwaito awards CEO demands govt support

In an open letter to Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa, Khumalo deplored the department on grounds of partisanship.

“MKHMA note with great disappointment and disapproval the unfair treatment it has been subjected to by the DAC,” Khumalo says. “The organisation has for the past three years invested efforts in attempting to secure funding for MKHMA. These tireless efforts have yielded nothing but constant rejection from the DAC.

"Minister Nathi Mthethwa’s department has continuously demonstrated by all means possible lack of interest towards supporting the awards. What seem to be of great concern from our end, is the ignorance towards our efforts to promote social cohesion and giving recognition to what has historically manifested a unique South African cultural genre and discipline.”

Khumalo condemned the department for turning a blind eye on the MKHMAs in favour of other award platforms.

“We have come to the realisation that the department favours the South African Music Awards (SAMAs) and the new USIBA Creative and Cultural Industries Awards over the MKHMA, as they have cited the rejection on the basis that they are already supporting the SAMAs,” she said. “However, we are of a belief that our focus remains different from that of the SAMAs and other music-oriented awards in South Africa.”

Khumalo also sees the department’s failure to support the MKHMAs as an indication of gender bias.

“This rejection has also come to suggest that women-led initiatives are not worthy of the support afforded to those led by men, a stance that we believe seek to discriminate on the basis of gender and sex. We would like to remind Mr Mthethwa that the Constitution of this country is explicit on the recognition and protection of all who live in South Africa.”

Khumalo said she was forced to dig into her own pockets to keep the MKHMAs afloat.

“The past three years have been a difficult journey that saw the CEO going beyond the rejection by using her own resources and money as a matter of realising her passion,” she said, adding that the awards had always aimed to restore “the dignity of many struggling kwaito artists and preserving the legacy and cultural value of the genre”.

She challenged Mthetwa “to demonstrate the highest level of leadership and clarify his position on this matter as it has become personal for us".

"Until such time he decides to give us a concrete explanation as to why are they refusing us an opportunity to fair equally with other awards ceremonies they support, we will continue to make noise as a means of communication our concern regarding this matter.”

The MKHMAs came under fire earlier this year after convicted rapist Brickz was booked to perform at the nomination party in August. In mid-August, the kwaito star was ordered back to Krugersdorp Prison after losing an appeal. He is serving a 15-year sentence for the rape of a 16-year-old relative in 2013.

This year's MKHMAs will take place at Carnival City in Johannesburg on 24 November.