TikTok awards R860k in cash grants to South African creators

TikTok has announced its first class of Rising Voice grant recipients in South Africa, with the 20 creators receiving cash grants amounting to R860 000 in total.

The grant was awarded in partnership with the South African National Film & Video Foundation.

The creators were originally part of a group of 100 participants in an incubator programme held by TikTok. The list of final grant recipients includes thozimusic, khanyisa_jaceni, doctor.siya, and sphokuhle.n.

The finalists were chosen by a panel of judges from TikTok based on their engagement levels and performance during the programme.

During the six-week incubation programme, creators received mentorship and special training.

The programme specifically aimed to empower creators of colour and help them build an audience on the platform.

“During the programme, it was inspiring to see participants fully immerse themselves in creating quality content, participating in the masterclasses and taking to collaboration and connecting with each other with great enthusiasm,” Boniswa Sidwaba, TikTok Content Operations Manager for Africa, says.

“We are excited to reveal that in addition to the 839 million views received across creator content, 4.6 million followers were gained, 2.1 million shares occurred and a total of 9,800 videos created, showcasing local and relatable content created during the course of the programme.”

The 20 grant recipients include:

• perimaskitchen
• callherthato
• thando.khumalo
• brwnskn
• thozimusic
• king.grrrr
• Witney8
• khanyisa_jaceni
• paballokgware
• doctor.siya
• lxndi.nkengana
• hallebberry
• mrsizwe_sir
• thereal250goat
• nchls_b
• moghelingz
• kaylakimkay
• keraramz
• Refiloe.pinkpanther
• sphokuhle.n

The full list of all 100 Rising Voices participants can be viewed on the Rising Voices site.

Feature image: TikTok

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