Simphiwe Dana over the moon after receiving her royalties

Award-winning SA songstress Simphiwe Dana, who recently dropped her fifth album Bamako, is on cloud nine after receiving that payment bank notification. The songstress took to Twitter to share that she has received her royalties payment, from the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO).

It is no secret that during these trying times, some people have been feeling the financial constraint of ‘No work, no pay’, as we are on lockdown. The lockdown period has resulted in a lot of public outcry for financial help, as a lot of things have come to a standstill.

Creative practitioners in the entertainment fraternity have also been subjected to gigs and bookings getting cancelled, as events are prohibited, but SAMPRA came through for Simphiwe and hopefully for other musicians too.

The songstress raised the burning question of why are actors not receiving royalties as musicians do, but hopefully, the heavyweights of the industry would be able to answer her question.

I just received funds from @SAMROMusic. I’ll be ok for another month. Bears the question why actors don’t have royalties like we do.

— #BamakoIsHere (@simphiwedana) May 5, 2020