Cheating allegations in Presidential competitions
Spira Tlhankane | Wednesday July 5, 2017 17:02
The groups have complained to the ministry about the alleged cheating and flouting of rules in the President’s Day regional competitions held in Hukuntsi on June 17.
The concerned parties being Diphika, Ditawana and Diphala Tsa Setso traditional groups are not pleased after a group from Mogoditshane region called Ishixhaqwa, which competed in their region and ended up booking a ticket to compete at the finals later in the coming weeks.
In the letter written to the PS, the chairperson of the group, Onneile Segwai wrote that they were governed by the President’s Day competitions guideline booklet. “At the commencement of the competition we did not note that there was a group, which was not a resident of the region but rather of the Mogoditshane region registered to take part or compete in the Ghanzi-Kgalagadi region. The said group is popularly known as Makanyane Traditional Group and a large number of the members are known to form a part of Makanyane,” read the letter.
Segwai further added that after realisation of this fact, they submitted a protest to the regional committee for Ishixhaqwa to be disqualified. Segwai told Showbiz that the matter was taken lightly at the regional office, but if their request is not taken urgently then the matter would be taken to court.
The competition is run by MYSC and the rules that apply to all categories are available in the government website.
“Artists will only be allowed to perform at a location where they are based or place of origin,” read one the rules.
Article 11 of the guidelines states that any groups/artists who do not comply with the stipulated rules will be disqualified, but Article 13 of the same rules states that the judges’ decision is final and no protests will be accepted. MYSC Principal Public Relations Officer, Kristian Mmusi told Showbiz that they investigated the issue because it was brought before them from a regional office.
He said in the end they concluded that no laws were flouted therefore the complaint has been dismissed. Mmusi said members cannot compete twice or in two categories but otherwise they can switch from one group to another. “They always do that, ba adimana batho, it’s their issues as groups and we cannot take action,” he highlighted. Mmusi said a number of young people decided to switch from Makanyane to Ishixhaqwa, hence there is nothing they can do about it.
However, Article 12 of the competition guidelines states that group members are not interchangeable; that is, no crisscrossing.