The Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA), which organises the South African Music Awards (SAMA) has finally come out of the woods. On Monday they released a statement to officially kick off the #Road2SAMA29.

The event, which normally takes place at the Sun City Resort, North West, is traditionally held between between May and June. After failing to secure main sponsors for this year, it meant a long delay. In their statement, RiSA said the launch of the SAMAs will be held in Soweto on Tuesday, October 3.

A source told ZiMoja that the North West government has decided against bankrolling the event because they are focusing on other service delivery projects. "The North West government is pushing the Thuntsa Lerole Programme, where they visit different municipalities every Friday with the Premier and MEC’s to address service delivery issues in the province. So the Samas are not really a priority for the government. People in the province want to see a working government and the event happens only one weekend, and there is nothing else that comes with the SAMAS," a source said.

An optimistic RiSA CEO, Nhlanhla Sibisi said: "The South African music industry has produced exceptional music over the past year and seen our artists take their brands to new heights both locally and globally. We are proud to officially kick off #SAMA29 and look forward to sharing with the country some exciting new developments as the SAMA’s finds a new home," Sibisi said in a statement. "A special announcement is also set for 3 October 2023 which will see South Africa’s flagship music awards find a new home. This exciting partnership will bring about the biggest SAMA roll out to date, as the #Road2SAMA29 will activate across multiple cities anchoring on music, fashion and tourism."