MMA26 EXPOSED: R20m gone and now the public demands answers.

The trophies have been handed over. The celebrities have gone home. But across social media, one question refuses to die: How did that artist win and how did this one lose?

It is a fair question. But it is also the wrong one. The real issue is not who won. The real issue is: can anyone outside the SABC prove that the results reflect what the public actually voted for?

The answer is no.

A voting system no one can see

Here is how it works:

• The public dials *120*45787# at a cost of R1.50 per minute,

• They select a category,

• They select a nominee,

• Their vote is recorded,

• Somewhere, by someone, those votes are counted. A winner is announced,

That means, millions of rand were posibbly generated from public participation. People paid real money to take part in what they believed was a fair, transparent process.

But here is the problem, no one can see how that process actually works.

The Terms and Conditions go into detail about the judges' panel for nominations, auditors, prescribed forms. But when it comes to the public voting stage, the part where ordinary people fork out their hard-earned cash the T&Cs go completely silent.

• No named auditor.

• No published vote totals.

• No right for artists to demand a recount.

• No independent verification whatsoever.

And then they slap on the killer clause: "All decisions by METRO FM are final and binding." No questions. No appeals. Just shut up and accept it.

This is not an awards show. This is a black box designed to milk fans while staying completely unaccountable. There's just no way for the public to check if the winners announced on stage match the votes submitted. There is no appeals process, no recount option, no independent review that the public can access. It is a closed system. In simple terms, the public pays but gets no proof.

Follow the money

The Public Dispatch asked the SABC directly, what is the total revenue generated by premium-rated voting for MMA 2024 and MMA 2025? What portion accrues to the SABC? The SABC's spokesperson Mmoni Ngubane responded:

“Commercial arrangements with telecommunications partners are governed by confidentiality provisions. The SABC accounts for all revenue in accordance with applicable governance frameworks and reports transparently through its statutory reporting processes, including oversight by Parliament.”

This means, the public pays to vote, the SABC collects the money but no one is told how much was made. Even the SABC’s own annual report does not clearly break down this revenue. So where does the money go?

The results that don’t add up

The social media firestorm following the ceremony is not just bitter fans, it is not random. It is a reaction to a mathematical impossibility. Sam Deep, Naledi Aphiwe, Zee Nxumalo entered the night as the most nominated artists. They received nothing.

Zee Nxumalo even expressed her disappointment on her X account, she wrote:

"God you're confusing me. I just lost 7 awards but my EP is doing WELL. What must happen?"

We are not here to argue about music but we are here to argue about accountability. If a landslide favorite loses seven or even six times in one night, the public has a right to see the receipts. Was it a close race? Was it a blowout? Did a single auditor even look at the numbers? The SABC is not reevealing any of that. They have made millions and you have the binding results.

Maskandi: Votes wanted, airplay not proven

The SABC’s "appreciation" for Maskandi music is the ultimate insult. The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Maskandi veteran Bheki "Ihashi Elimhlophe" Ngcobo. This is a safe honour. Ihashi Elimhlophe is a legend whose contribution is beyond dispute. But a Lifetime Achievement Award is selected by the SABC, not voted on by the public. It costs the broadcaster nothing in terms of airplay commitment or structural change.

So the situation is this, Maskandi fans are asked to vote, they pay to participate, their genre is used to grow the awards but there is no proof that the station supports their music on air. The SABC cannot or will not show that it plays their music on Metro FM.

As one prominent Maskandi artist told The Public Dispatch on condition of anonymity:

"They want our fans' airtime, but they don't want our culture on their daytime shows. We are the fuel for their red carpet, but we are still treated like guests in our own house."

Durban's water crisis: Yet they splashed ratepayers' money on this circus

While eThekwini residents in Durban battle a brutal water crisis, leaking pipes, and people going days without supply the municipality decided to throw R20 million at hosting the Metro FM Music Awards.

Council documents reveal a heartbreaking reality, while the city was fast-tracking millions for the SABC using the Section 110(2)(a) to bypass tenders, it was simultaneously admitting that the repair of Community Centres is slow and that first responders lack training.

The contrast is sickening

The bottom line: A public institution running a private scam?

The SABC is a public broadcaster funded by you. eThekwini is a municipality funded by ratepayers. Yet, they have teamed up to run an awards show that behaves like a private offshore account.

The SABC collects the revenue and hide the vote counts. They refuse to name the auditors and they hide behind "commercial confidentiality" when asked where the millions went.

This is not how a public institution runs a public vote. It is definately not transparency but control.

The fans who are angry and demanding answers on social media today are not wrong to be angry. The problem is NOT that their favourite artist lost. The problem is that they have no way of knowing whether their vote was counted at all.

The problem is that in a city with no water and a broadcaster with no transparency, we have no proof that a single vote was ever counted.