Samas respond to Kelly Khumalo’s rant, claims votes are rigged

Lesley Mofokeng, who is the Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA) communications manager and South African Music Awards (Sama) spokesperson, has responded to musician Kelly Khumalo’s social media tirade.

ALSO READ: ‘Smash glass if you want’: Gospel singer HLE defends Ntokozo against Kelly Khumalo [listen]

KELLY KHUMALO CLAIMS SAMAS ARE RIGGED

On Saturday, during the awards ceremony staged at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, Kelly alleged that the Samas are rigged. She also launched an attack on gospel musician Ntokozo Mbambo – who won the Female Artist of the Year award that she was also nominated for.

“Arranged winnings FUSEG!… I’m not scared of all of you FUSEG! FUSEG NONKE.

“She knows she doesn’t deserve it. Numbers don’t lie… Even Ntokozo knows that numbers don’t lie! We are not scared of her. Fuseg Samas,” Kelly wrote.

ALSO READ: ‘We’re not scared of her’: Kelly Khumalo comes for Ntokozo Mbambo after Samas loss

When called out, the Empini hitmaker doubled down on her utterances, saying she has no regrets and meant everything she said.

“Beningaluthathi ngani ucingo?[Why didn’t you guys take my phone away from me?] 😂😂😂 I said what I said bye.

“I said what I said and take nothing back!”

The afropop-cum-gospel artist also shared a video of herself laughing at what had happened the night before. She told fans that she does not care, Jesus does not care, her ancestors don’t care and her partner (whomshe referred to as “the man of the house”) also does not care.

ALSO READ: ‘I don’t care’: Kelly Khumalo doubles down on Samas comments [watch]

RIGGING CLAIMS ADDRESSED

Speaking to TshisaLIVE, Mofokeng rubbished Kelly’s claims. He explained that their metrics are not based on radio play, popularity and social media following.

“If anyone at all has proof to substantiate the claim that the SAMAs are rigged they should come forward so we can investigate. Our systems have proven to have integrity and we use the best in the industry and we stand by those results. We don’t look at radio play, we don’t look at airtime, popularity, fame, and the following. All we consider is the body that you present in front of us,” he said.

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Mofokeng also congratulated Ntokozo for winning the Female Artist of the Year, Best Contemporary Faith Album and Album of the Year awards for her album titled Lavish Worship.

“For the record, the SAMA would like to state that we celebrate the wins of Ntokozo Mbambo, and we are very proud of her achievements and we are very encouraged by the support we saw playing out on social media.”

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