DJ De Mthuda, real name Mthuthuzeli Gift Khoza, was looking forward to participating at this year's South African Music Awards, however, after days of planning for his red-carpet performance, he was snubbed by the award ceremony.

PRODUCTION ERROR

In a statement sent by his team to ZiMoja, they said: "SAMAs fumbled De Mthuda's performance of his new summer anthem Diwa Kae," the statement read. The team said that Mthuda's fans were eagerly anticipating the performance, however, a major production error resulted in the artist being excluded from his performance.

De Mthuda, known for his hit tracks and collaborations, was reportedly invited to perform at the event by RiSA and Sjula D Productions working behind the scenes. "He agreed to perform his latest release, featuring a star-studded line-up including Kabza De Small, Young Stunna, McKenzie, MKeyz and Mthunzi. The SAMAs would have been the first public performance of this track,' said his manager Thabiso Khati.

ON-TIME

Khati said that despite arriving on time and ready to perform, De Mthuda was left waiting for over an hour. "He was eventually asked by production to wait in the car and they would fetch him when it was time. This was because no artist waiting area had been provided. Shockingly, the producers proceeded to film the performance with only the featured artists, completely omitting De Mthuda,' added Khati. "How do you package a De Mthuda performance without him on stage?' questioned Thabiso, adding that while the production company has apologised for the error, they have refused to re-record the performance to include the artist. "This incident raises serious concerns about the organisation and professionalism of the SAMA Awards production. De Mthuda and his team are exploring all available options to address this unacceptable situation,' he concluded. The SAMAs had not responded to our questions at the time of publishing.