Where is the money? SA group Freshlyground questions if ‘Waka Waka’ royalties went to charities

702’s John Perlman speaks with Simon Attwell, Freshlyground's Manager and Co-founder

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Members of the South African band Freshlyground are hoping to get answers from FIFA and Sony Music over what happened to the royalties promised to charities for the hit song ‘Waka Waka’.

The song was a smash hit for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, which featured global star Shakira.

The royalties from the song, which are still being earned today, were intended to benefit African charities.

Attwell says he first enquired in 2013, which went unanswered.

“With the continued success of the song… the band started asking questions… At the beginning of this year, I made some more enquiries and we would love to know which African charities have been benefiting from all the money.”

– Simon Attwell, Manager and Co-founder – Freshlyground

‘Waka Waka' currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most successful FIFA World Cup song.

It has garnered 4.3 billion views on YouTube and under a billion listens on Spotify.

Attwell says the deal was that the royalties would go to charities chosen by the artists.

Because the song was made in a rush, the details regarding which specific charities would benefit weren’t ironed out.

“We thought [that] was an excellent idea, so we signed it… Then the response was ‘no, actually Shakira only gets to choose the charity’… But we kind of sucked it up… and then have heard nothing since.”

– Simon Attwell, Manager and Co-founder – Freshlyground

Attwell says that he was told this year that the money was paid over to FIFA, who have been using it towards their charity, 20 Centres for 2010.

Charity appears to have been shutdown in 2014.

“Our question is really simple. We signed a deal and we would really like you guys to honour your side of the deal, which is to show us how much money has been accrued and to which charities it has been distributed to.”