SWAMA MOURNS PM’S DEMISE

MBABANE – A great loss to the arts sector. One of the country’s biggest arts association, the Eswatini Arts and Music Association (SWAMA), has expressed great grief over the demise of the Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, who passed away while under medical care in neighbouring South Africa due to a COVID-19 related illness.

A statement announcing Dlamini’s demise was issued in the late hours of Sunday night leading into Monday morning. 

In an interview, SWAMA Public Relations Officer Bongani ‘Tizalami’ Dube said the SWAMA Executive and all artists in the country were disheartened by the news of the premier’s passing, as he was one of the key contributors to the development of the arts sector.

Dube said as the then CEO of MTN Eswatini, Mandvulo, together with SWAMA President Lutfo Dlamini, successfully launched the now famous MTN SWAMA Awards in 2017, where MTN committed E340 000 as a sponsorship package, which was the biggest sponsorship for any awards show in the country. 

Pillars

Under his chairmanship, the MTN Foundation, which is MTN Eswatini’s Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives arm, he included Arts and Culture as one of the four pillars that the organisation prioritised. 

The other three were Education and Health; Enterprise Development; and National Priority Areas.

Dube said the Prime Minister had welcomed SWAMA’s proposal for sponsoring annual awards for musicians and gave the concept a bolder vision by insisting that all other arts be included in the initiative. 

Dube further stated that he inculcated in them a spirit of teamwork towards achieving their goals, an ideal they have adhered to long after his departure from MTN. 

Condolences

“On behalf of the SWAMA President, Lutfo Dlamini, the SWAMA National Executive, SWAMA members, and all artists in the country, allow me to pass our deepest condolences to Their Majesties; the Dlamini family; the nation; the MTN family; and government on the loss of a luminary, a visionary, a philanthropist, a seasoned leader, a father, a son and a friend, Babe Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini. 

Faith

“His staunch faith in Christ our Lord gives us solace that his soul shall rest in God’s eternal peace. Ncesini boNkhosi,” concluded Dube.

Just a couple of months ago, the Prime Minister had declared the entertainment and arts sector opened to a maximum capacity of 100 people after seven months of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which could also be counted as one of the many contributions he made to the industry.

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