The
Afrikaans Ghoema Music Awards that was overshadowed by controversy this year will
continue – along with kykNET as a sponsor – although Heidi Edeling is out as
CEO of the Ghoema Music Trust.
Controversy erupted in April before the 8th annual kykNET
Ghoema Music Awards at the Sun Arena in
Pretoria when MultiChoice demanded the removal of “Die Land” music
video as an already-announced nominee in one of the categories because it
featured the controversial Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr appearing as one of a
group of artists in the video.
MultiChoice said that it would revoke its
sponsorship of the Ghoemas if the music video was not removed and the Ghoemas
agreed.
The planned live broadcast of the 2019 Ghoema Music
Awards was scuppered without any warning and Steve Hofmeyr’s son Devon who didn’t have accreditation
or tickets but circumvented security and got a seat inside the venue was removed when he and a friend tried to cause a disruption during an acceptance
speech.
At its first meeting on Wednesday after this year’s
awards show that included representatives from record companies like Coleske
Artists, Sony/Select, Universal Music, Vonk as well as kykNET whose channels
boss Karen Meiring is one of the trustees, the Ghoemas management decided to
continue with the awards despite numerous challenges. Heidi Edeling will no
longer serve as CEO and a trustee of the Ghoemas.
