Grammy award winners walked away with a cool R250 000 each at a gala dinner that cost the Department of Arts and Culture over R16-million for the night.
This was revealed in parliament by Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa after the DA asked for a breakdown of payment costs for Grammy award winners.
Kodwa also said his department did not have a public bid for the lucrative tender to organise the dinner, but shared the bidding details with 48 suppliers on their database.
“No tender was advertised as the department used its procurement sourcing strategy as per its SCM policy which allows the department to appoint a panel of events management service providers for a period of 36 months,” Kodwa said.
“The panel of 48 service providers was appointed through the bidding process to render the events services for the department when required.”
Of the 48 suppliers, only two of them replied to the tender, with musician Arthur Mafokate’s Roadshow Marketing losing the bid to seasoned publicist Njabulo Mbatha’s Abstract Group.
In a reply to DA’s question, Kodwa also indicated that the total paid to Grammy award-winning artists was R10 750 000.
The artists awarded are Miriam Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, John Lindemann, Soweto Gospel Choir, Lebo M Morake, Nkosinathi “DJ Black Coffee” Maphumulo, Nomcebo Zikode and Wouter Kellerman.
The department held the gala dinner as part of honouring the creatives and pay homage to renowned Grammy award winners within the cultural and creative industry in April.
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