Times Of Swaziland: ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY ON ITS KNEES

ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY ON ITS KNEES
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BY THEMBELANI NHLABATSI    on 07/08/2020 00:40:00


MBABANE – While the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the entertainment
industry as social gatherings with larger crowds remain banned, the arts sector
has emerged with a cry to be heard.
In a series of social media posts, artists have shared their growing concerns
over how they have been bleeding money as events such as conferences, live
shows, expos, festivals and clubs die a slow painful death.
Using the distress signal, popular internationally in voice-procedure radio
communications, some of the local artists joined in on the #LightSAred movement,
which aims at pleading with government to save the entertainment industry.
income
Among the many issues the artists stated in their cry for help, they allege that
for over five months, they earned zero income and also felt ignored by
government.
The plight was first introduced in the United Kingdom by Clearsound Productions
Ltd and Backstage Theatre Jobs on social media platforms earlier in July.
Subsequently, it spread to South Africa on Wednesday morning as well as across
the southern Africa region by the end of the day.
The protesters invited fans to join them as they covered buildings and monuments
in red LED light to raise awareness of their plight.
With this, the participants were also urged to take photos of the objects or
themselves in red and then share them on social media platforms.
“We are standing together to call on the lift of the ban and to reignite this
industry that contributes millions to our economy and puts food in people’s
mouths. It does not only serve as a good time but it is people’s
livelihoods,” lamented one artist.
associations
Meanwhile, other local artists shared that they felt that the local associations
were not benefitting them anything because they were only told to register but
did not see the benefits of doing so.
Another artist shared that he had registered in 2018, where they were invited to
send SMSs with their names and details to a short code generated by one of the
local telecommunications networks.
He alleged that though doing so, it was the last he had heard of the service and
benefits that the association had promised.
Some even felt that the governing bodies for the arts were only there to
regulate how they conducted their business and nothing more.
When reached for comment, the Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture
(ENCAC) Chief Executive Officer Stanley Dlamini said, “Just like the
#BlackLivesMatter movement the awareness was important as this popularised the
profession.”
He stated that even in developed countries the arts sector was regarded as an
important sector that revived the economy.