Van Damme hitmaker Mroza made headlines when he scooped the SABC Summer Song of the Year crown but there was no love for the artist at the Metro FM Music Awards nominations announcement on Tuesday.
The nominations for the highly-anticipated awards ceremony was announced at a swanky party in Johannesburg, but did not include Mroza or his hit track Van Damme .
The exclusion seemed like Mroza had been 'snubbed' by the awards, however SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago has rubbished the claim.
"The award's rules clearly state that in order to be nominated for an award, a song first has to be playlisted by the station and, secondly, be submitted for consideration. Mroza's song has never been playlisted on the station and therefore was not considered for a nomination," Kaizer said.
Kaizer added that Metro FM had not playlisted Van Damme because its licence agreement did not allow it to play certain genres. He also explained that Mroza's exclusion was not personal.
"Certain genres are not playlisted on the station. That is why we do not have a reggae or maskandi category at the awards. It is not about a certain song. We did not change the rules for a specific song. These rules have always been in place and we cannot change them," he said.
Afro-soul songstress Amanda Black led the pack by scooping five nominations. Babes Wodumo, Nasty C and Kwesta all scored four nods each.
SEE Metro FM Music Awards 2017 Nominees – See Full List!
The success of Van Damme at the SABC Summer Song of the Year competition surprised many fans, who thought that Babes Wodumo's Wololo or King Monada's Ska Bhora Moreki would win.
An auditing report released by the SABC following the announcement showed that Van Damme had won 5% of the votes.
