ENTERTAINERS VENTURE INTO DIFFERENT INCOME STREAMS

MBABANE – Making a living in a different way.

With the coronavirus pandemic spreading, uncertainties in different sectors of the economy have been emerging, especially in the entertainment scenes. Artists have been left with no work for a period of over five months already since the virus hit our shores in March. Organisations in the different sections of the entertainment scene have tried all in their might to alleviate the challenges that the sectors they regulate have been faced with. Such organisations, which are under the Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture (ENCAC) include the Eswatini Music Association (SWAMA) and the Association of Christian Artists in Eswatini (ACAESWA), have been partaking in economy recovery strategies for the benefit of their artists.

Recovery

Supporting documents from the ENCAC on the recovery, state that the path towards recovery should be a carefully staggered journey. It also mentions that focus should be on immediate responses and interventions to mid-term and long term approaches instead of resuming where things were left off before COVID-19. SWAMA President Lutfo Dlamini had advised private sector companies to partner with artists for campaigns through sending messages and featuring them in campaigns on preventative measures for the coronavirus. Some of the measures that the associations had rendered included suspending all moneys paid towards membership subscriptions to the year 2021.

Announced

ACAESWA announced at the launch of the Lockdown Gospel Music Awards (LOGMAs) that existing members would not pay the E600 subscriptions for the year 2020, meanwhile SWAMA made all subscriptions for membership free for both existing and non-members, which would be carried out online. Artists have taken it upon themselves to take on projects that would generate income for them while waiting for restrictions on the economy to be further lifted. Local comedian Bonginkosi ‘Dr Shakes’ Dlamini is steadily growing his business as a woodcutter/ logger, which he started over a week ago.

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