GOSPEL AWARDS DATES REVEALED

MBABANE – Come rain or sunshine.  Despite the current COVID -19 pandemic, the Association of Christian Artists in Eswatini (ACAESWA) gospel awards are still on. They will be officially launched on June 20, 2020.
 This was confirmed by Nhlanhla Mathunjwa, the Public Relations Officer of the association, in an interview with this publication yesterday.

He said they would take advantage of the internet and host the event online. “The current COVID-19 pandemic has pushed us to think outside the box. We have decided to continue with our gospel music awards. We will be hosting them live,” he said.
 He went on to share that on June 20, they will also be unveiling the categories including the public categories, technical categories, and special categories.

 “Local gospel artists must stay on the lookout as on the day of the launch, gospel music fanatics will be able to start nominating their favourite,” he said.
The main day of the gospel awards will be in October. Mathunjwa shared that they were still to decide on the actual date.

Sponsors

“We can confidently say we are 70 per cent done with the preparation. We have no specific date yet, but we are sure that it will be in October this year. We would also love to appeal to the nation to help us with more sponsors to make our event a success. They can contact me on 7607 7878 or the committee chairman on 7602 6423,” he said.
Mathunjwa also added that they were consulting about the current pandemic and they decided to stream the whole event.

“We are consulting with the relevant stakeholders and authorities as well as monitoring the situation. We will be having the awards despite the pandemic” he stated.
Meanwhile, Mathunjwa revealed that they had decided to form a committee for the association, which would be headed by Patrick Gamedze, who is a former Manzini Wanderers Management Committee Chairman.

Perfect

Gamedze has been in the Eswatini sports scene for a long time; however, the association’s publicist said he was also a perfect fit to head the committee because he is a Christian and was not new in the gospel scene.
In an interview with Gamedze, he expressed his gratitude to the association for being entrusted with the opportunity along with the committee.
He said the diverse experiences of the members gave them comfort to take the awards up a notch.

 Nduduzo Matse, an award-winning gospel musician, also expressed his excitement and shared that the awards played a huge role in exposing and motivating local artist.
 “I am glad that we actually have something positive to look out for during the COVID-19 pandemic. The awards play a huge role in encouraging and motivating local artists. It is not easy to create content in an environment where one gets little support. The gospel awards give that opportunity for upcoming artists to showcase their talent and support them,” he said.

Siphofaneni Member of Parliament Mduduzi ‘Gawuzela’ Simelane also shared his excitement and noted that the awards did not mean that the pandemic was going to be over soon.
“This is a brilliant idea and it shows that we need to also come up with innovative ways to survive and keep the entertainment sector alive. I also wish the association could do more research to make these awards worthwhile,” he said.
It is worth noting that the innaugural Eswatini Gospel Music Awards were hosted in 2014 as the Glory Awards and later changed name in 2016, which was an endorsement by the patron, Inkhosikati LaMbikiza.

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