The resignation of the former Samro board member who was the chairperson of the collecting society’s social, ethics, and governance committee, Dr Sibongile Vilakazi, is said to be an act of protecting her reputation.
Vilakazi resigned from the Samro board on September 11, during a tumultuous period for the organisation, as board members and CEO Annabell Lebethe faced allegations of corruption and maladministration.
Ordinary members demanded answers about the governance and financial scandals that had rocked the music royalty collection society.
Sunday World has seen Vilakazi’s resignation letter sent to Samro’s company secretary, Marianne Fourie.
“Please find my resignation from the board as of the 11th of September 2025. It’s been a great opportunity and experience,” wrote Vilakazi.
Corruption and infighting
However, this week, insiders at Samro said that Vilakazi resigned because she wanted to protect her reputation.
“Sibongile believed that members of Samro, some of whom were acting like hooligans, were unfairly persecuting her,” said an insider.
“She had come to the point of no return looking for her sanity and independence as a professional in various fields, and she said that she was not going to watch her name being dragged in the mud by disgruntled Samro members, who had been hellbent on attacking her and other board members.”
According to a second source who supports Vilakazi, she was chosen to serve on Samro’s board due to her experience in the business sector handling governance and ethics issues.
She had no idea, though, that she would end up being part of the organisation’s current turmoil, which has included accusations of corruption, infighting, and various violent threats.
“At every opportunity those people got to drag her name in the mud, they would use it. She never defended herself from all the nonsense they peddled about her, but she just realised that she was not going to take it anymore; hence, she resigned,” said our mole.
As the Samro drama has reached a boiling point, insiders also say that other board members were getting ready to step down.
Vilakazi’s book launch
On Power FM on September 15, Samro CEO Annabell Lebethe also touched on the subject of the band iThala leAfrika, who played at Vilakazi’s book launch, Put Her In Her Place, for which Samro paid them R15 000.
Sunday World has seen an invoice that was sent to Samro by Asakhe Cuntsulana of iThala leAfrika on November 25, 2024, where R15 000 was charged by the jazz music ensemble, which performed at the book launch on November 28, 2024.
The money was paid into the Absa account of Cuntsulana, who is a composer, performer, and cultural curator from kuGatyane in the Eastern Cape.
Lebethe told the Gauteng commercial radio station that the decision to pay the band was made from her office, as she found it fitting to support the launch of the book.
“As the CEO, I made the decision in my office. I find the issues are of national importance that affect women in the workplace,” said Lebethe.
Lebethe told the station that the funds were used to uplift young musicians, pointing out that they were aligned with Samro’s mandate to support the broader music ecosystem.
When contacted for comment, Vilakazi said: “One can only do so much to help. You cannot want for others what they don’t want for themselves.”
