Kwaito superstar and record label owner Arthur Mafokate maintains that he did not receive the alleged amount of more than R10 million in funding from the National Arts Council (NAC).
However, he confirmed that his son AJ received a certain amount. Arthur was speaking to SABC news anchor Simphiwe Ncongwane on Morning Live today on SABC 2.
Addressing the allegations that he unlawfully received funding from NAC, Mafokate said: “It is just malicious rumours that are there to defame me and slander me as an individual because I am an easy target, it is to get a front-page using my name because if they were to write about any other person it wouldn’t have been a front-page story so they had to choose me.”
He said he applied for the funding, however, he has not received a cent from NAC. “I did apply on behalf of my companies and the funding was about helping other practitioners all over the country because the president announced that companies that are able and capable of doing a proper proposal that would help alleviate the covid 19 situations, should come forward and try and help all those people that are out there in rural areas and other disadvantage areas to come forward and try and help them speedily so that they could get something out of the situation as we know that the creatives and cultural industries have been affected,” he said.
Simphiwe asked him: “So you are denying that you have received anything from the National Arts Council to date, but what about those records that show that you have received funding from the NAC?”
“I don’t know where those things are coming from, obviously they are coming from malicious people that we don’t know even the journalists that are writing stories their so-called sources they should be revealing those sources… I don’t know what they are talking about and I have not received a cent yet,” he responded.
Speaking on the allegations that Queendom, a company owned by his daughter Owami was approved for R719 070, and Black Technical Productions Association owned by him and his son Lesego (AJ) was approved for more than R849 000, he said: “I can confirm that AJ received R16 000+, I can confirm that Queendom has applied for a substantial amount of money, and what they are yet to receive is not what Queendom has anticipated.”
He said people know that he never responds to this kind of allegation, but now he felt he needed to respond because this is affecting his business and his family.
Yesterday he released a 4-page statement explaining why he applied for the funding and also stating that he has not received funding yet as his applications have not yet been approved.
-ZALebs
