Metro FM denies hack claims

The SABC has rejected claims that its Metro FM website has been hacked and the "real" winners of its music awards revealed.

The reports originated from an "unreliable" Twitter account, the user of which claimed to have hacked into the SABC computer system. The user claimed to have a list of the "real" awards winners that differed from the published list.

Twitter users tried to verify the claims on Monday.

SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said the reports were "absolutely false" and the SABC had not been hacked.

"But even if they managed to hack into our systems they would come up empty-handed for the Metro FM winners. They were handled externally," Kganyago said.

The awards ceremony was mired in controversy after claims that awards had been bought and deserving winners sent home empty-handed.

"It's important to remember that we can't measure fame on Twitter or other platforms and equate it to the number of SMSes people sent in to vote for a particular artist. The voting system was SMS-based and the results were audited," Kganyago said.

Artists such as Kwesta - who was mentioned as a big winner on the fake list - used social media to question the credibility of the SABC and Metro FM Awards.

Kganyago said the allegations were clearly made by people who did not know how the voting system worked.

He invited those in doubt to ask the SABC to show them the results.

"The SABC has nothing to gain from taking deserving artists' winnings."