POLOKWANE – The no-show of international singer, Anthony Hamilton, at the main festival of the Mapungubwe Arts Festival has led to many rumours.
Fans demanded explanations on Facebook and other social media platforms, saying the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture must come clean and tell them what was going on regarding the incident.
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They were also disgruntled about the R2,5 million allegedly paid into the account of a fake or scam manager and said “the money is nowhere to be found”.
Some went so far as to suggest that people in the department were responsible for the disappearance of the money.
Moloko Moloto, Spokesperson for the department, said the rumours were not true, but added they couldn’t be stopped.
“Government’s books are open for anyone to investigate, there is a paper trail to follow. There are mechanisms in place, such as the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), if there is any untoward behaviour or mismanagement of money. People can also ask the Public Protector to investigate should there be any doubts,” he said.
Moloto added that usually government paid after a service was rendered, but not so in the case of artists as they were paid half of their fee upfront, with the other half to be paid after the show.
He explained the Nigerian artist, D’Banj, was secured through a South African agency and they were paid, but not in full. “The agency failed to secure the visas in time, and thus failed to honour their contractual obligations. They already said they will refund the money.”
With Hamilton, he said, it was another story. “The department did not spend a single cent. We had several sponsors and it was a sponsor who would have brought Hamilton here. The sponsor paid Hamilton’s agent directly and signed the agreement. The agent wanted more money and the sponsor declined. The department also said we were not going to pay money from our coffers, we could not just give them R1,4 million of the tax payers’ money.”
This, after American RnB singers Tamia and Babyface were set to headline the festival, but pulled out.
Read more: Tamia and Babyface among international artists to headline the Mapungubwe Festival
Moloto said the department is not losing any sleep over the rumours as their hands are clean. He added it was the sponsor who must retrieve the money from Hamilton’s agent.
