Mzansi Kwaito House Music Awards pen letter to Nathi Mthethwa

With only four weeks until the big night, the Mzansi Kwaito House Music Awards (MKHMA) have penned an open letter to the Department of Arts and Culture relaying their disappointment and disapproval of the treatment the awards have been subjected to by the department.

“The organisation has for the past three years invested efforts in attempting to secure funding for the Annual Mzansi Kwaito and House Music Awards. These tireless efforts have yielded nothing but constant rejection from the DAC,” said MKHMA founder and CEO, Perfecta Khumalo.

Khumalo said the department has continuously displayed a lack of interest to support the only South African awards that solely focus on kwaito and house music.

“What seems 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 Africa’s cultural genre and discipline,” she said.

It is alleged that the department rejected the MKHMA on the basis that they are already supporting the South African Music Awards (Samas).

“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 seeks 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.

Khumalo said they have seen an increase in the number of young kwaito artists since the inception of the awards. She believed that the awards have restored the dignity of many struggling kwaito artists and preserving the legacy and cultural value of the genre.

“This is an indication that kwaito remains very much alive and part of our South African culture and history. The government of the Republic of South Africa has a commitment to support social cohesion at all costs and not cultural projects of those who have political ties and relationships,” she added.

Khumalo has called on Mthethwa to intervene in the matter and has asked for an explanation on the lack of support the awards have from the department.