Reports on Dr Tumi’s R500k livestream prayer service misleading - Gauteng sports, arts dept

• According to reports, renowned gospel artist Dr Tumi was paid R500 000 for a prayer service television concert.
• The Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation said the amount was for various services which ultimately led to the full production.
• The department added reports about the contract undermined the input which went into putting together a TV production.

The Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation has confirmed gospel singer Dr Tumi was contracted for a variety of services in preparation for a live television concert.

It entailed a full production and performances by the country's most renowned artists, including Benjamin Dube and Lebo Sekgobela.

The Sunday Times reported Dr Tumi was paid R500 000 by the department for organising a two-hour virtual prayer service.

It reported the artist, whose real name is Tumisang Makweya, had proposed the service because spirits in the country were low at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The service was aired by DSTV channel GauTV, the publication reported. 

The report stated the service attracted little more than 1 700 viewers on YouTube.

But, in a statement released on Sunday, the department said the report was misleading and insinuated the R500 000 was directly paid to the artist.

The department said the market rate for such celebrated artists was far beyond what they had charged, but they had put the TV production together and performed at "a reasonable cost for the benefit of society".

It added a sum of the costs went into the production and securing television space because the artists had volunteered their services.

"It's therefore insulting for the paper to disregard the inherent costs entailed in putting together a TV production, and to reduce the input to a mere two hours.

ALSO READ | Mandela funeral fraud: Eastern Cape health MEC among 15 accused back in the dock

"This thoughtlessness for the work of artists exposes how the arts continue to be undermined and treated as a by-the-way instead of a profession."

According to the Sunday Times report, Dr Tumi said R166 000 was allocated for a sound engineer, two camera operators, lightening technician and an outdoor broadcast van, while R150 000 was for the performers and R33 000 for pre-production costs.

The department thanked Dr Tumi, who is a medical doctor by profession, for his service and also hailed him for his free medical service during the pandemic.