The organisers of the South African Music Awards (Samas) have apologised for the poor treatment of some media during the event on Saturday.
The Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA) and HM Entertainments sent emails to members of the media on Tuesday to thank them for their contribution to making this year's event a success and to apologise for mismanagement.
"There were challenges we faced and we profusely and unreservedly apologise for the unpleasant experience some of you endured on Saturday night," RiSA CEO Nhlanhla Sibisi wrote.
The apology comes after some reporters spoke out on social media and in publications on Monday about the lack of respect they were shown.
Hloni Modise, the managing director of HM Entertainments (the PR company handling the event) also apologised, saying a planning was done but it was the implementation that was poor.
"Your support throughout the Samas pre-campaign was incredible and it is only fair that you received the correct treatment. Yes, everything was planned well and unfortunately when it came to execution things fell down the cracks, for that, I take full responsibility and I humbly apologise for that," Modise wrote.
RiSA and HM Entertainments will be "going back to the drawing board" to ensure that this does not happen again. No direct issues were addressed but a debrief session will be held soon for media to give feedback on what went wrong and how to improve Modise and Sibisi said.
Sibisi acknowledged that this year's coverage was record-breaking and thanked the media for its contribution.
"This year's Samas have broken the PR record, and all coverage we received was because of you and your contribution, we really value and appreciate you," Sibisi said.
According to Modise, details of the debrief would be confirmed soon.