Cape Town – 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 as sponsor demanded the removal of Die Land music video as a nominee in one of the categories.
Multichoice asked for it's removal because it featured the controversial Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr. 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 cancelled, 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.