The prestigious ninth annual Simon Mabhunu Sabela Awards, which took place in July, came under fire as complaints racked up against the Best Newcomer Actress in a Film award.
According to a statement from the KwaZulu Natal Film Commission, complaints followed after the award was given to newcomer actress Thulisile Dlamini from the movie “Help”.
It was found that Dlamini’s name was not listed on the actual nominee board, however, she won the award.
After months of reviewing the complaints, the commission has provided feedback saying that Dlamini remains the winner of the category and that the omission of her name was due to a “human error”.
“After reviewing the judging reports provided by the Overall Judges and confirmed by the external independent Auditor, it was noted that the nominee, Thulisile Dlamini, was indeed the correct winner that was scored in all three stages with comments from the judges declaring her the outright winner of the category,” read the statement.
It further stated that the omission of the name occurred during the transfer of information from the auditors’ sheet to various communication platforms.
“We would like to reiterate that both the signed report from the Overall Judges and from the External Auditor are aligned and both declare the winner of the category as Thulisile Dlamini.”
Victor Senna, the acting CEO at the KZN Film Commission, apologised for the “human error” and assured the film industry that the integrity of the awards-judging process remained intact.
“The human error experienced was isolated to be due to separate input outside the judging and auditing process. The error is regrettable, however, what this shows is that the winners’ list is signed, double-checked and sealed by an auditor which is why even when there was an error, the award still went to the correct winner.
“Corrective measures are being put in place to ensure the error is never repeated,” said Senna.
"Let me take this opportunity and congratulate all of the nominees and winners of the Simon Mabhunu Sabela KZN Film and Television Awards 2021,“ he said.
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