{"id":45109,"date":"2025-12-16T15:28:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T15:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=45109"},"modified":"2025-12-16T15:28:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T15:28:56","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignzakes-bantwini-warns-samas-risk-losing-credibility-if-reforms-arent-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2025\/12\/16\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignzakes-bantwini-warns-samas-risk-losing-credibility-if-reforms-arent-made\/","title":{"rendered":"Zakes Bantwini warns SAMAs risk losing credibility if reforms aren\u2019t made"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"mvp-content-main\">&#13;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_160829\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-160829\" class=\"wp-image-160829 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Zakes-Bantwini-warns-SAMAs-risk-losing-credibility-if-reforms-arent.jpg?resize=600%2C407&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Zakes-Bantwini-warns-SAMAs-risk-losing-credibility-if-reforms-arent.jpg 600w, https:\/\/fakazanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Zakes-Bantwini-300x204.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-160829\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zakes Bantwini cals out SAMA organisers<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Grammy Award-winning musician Zakes Bantwini has issued a stark warning about the future of the South African Music Awards (SAMAs), calling for urgent reforms to restore credibility and public trust.<\/p>\n<p>In an open letter following this year\u2019s ceremony, Zakes said the SAMAs have lost their significance to such an extent that even industry insiders barely noticed the event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYesterday [Sunday], the South African Music Awards happened. I\u2019m a musician, and I barely knew about it. That\u2019s not me being careless; that\u2019s where we are now,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Once a national celebration that captured the attention of artists, fans, and the media alike, Zakes said the awards no longer resonate with the public.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a time when the SAMAs meant the whole country stopped. Now, yesterday came and passed. Barely a mention on social media. Artists weren\u2019t there. Fans didn\u2019t care,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Highlighting the global success of South African artists, Zakes pointed to international recognition as evidence that the problem lies not with local talent but with the awards themselves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur artists are doing big things internationally. Tyla\u2019s success shows the world is paying attention to what we\u2019re creating here. But we get more excited about global recognition than we do about our awards,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n<p>Zakes also criticised the judging process, claiming years of questionable decisions have eroded trust in the awards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYear after year, artists and fans complained about winners who didn\u2019t make sense. Albums of the Year that nobody heard, Songs of the Year that weren\u2019t playing anywhere. That\u2019s not okay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He warned that this disconnect between winners and audiences has led to apathy: \u201cFans stopped trusting that the SAMAs reflected reality. Artists stopped believing the awards were fair. And slowly, we all stopped caring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The musician emphasised that responsibility does not rest solely with the judges. He called on artists to support the awards and take part in restoring their relevance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we don\u2019t show up, we\u2019re part of the problem. When the stage is empty because someone couldn\u2019t be bothered to attend, what message does that send to fans? These are our awards. They belong to us. If we don\u2019t fight for them, who will?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zakes urged the Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA), which oversees the SAMAs, to implement meaningful reforms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRiSA needs to make the judging process transparent. They need panels with diverse voices, people who are actually in touch with what\u2019s happening across genres and regions,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>He concluded by stressing the importance of protecting the awards for the next generation of artists.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we let the SAMAs fade completely, we\u2019re robbing young artists of something to work toward. We\u2019re destroying the infrastructure that should support and celebrate them throughout their careers. It\u2019s a lot of work, but it\u2019s not impossible. Other countries have reformed their music awards to reflect what\u2019s actually happening. We can do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 4 -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Zakes #Bantwini #warns #SAMAs #risk #losing #credibility #reforms #arent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; Zakes Bantwini cals out SAMA organisers Grammy Award-winning musician Zakes Bantwini has issued a stark warning about the future&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45109"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45111,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45109\/revisions\/45111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}