Entertainment

MBABANE – During the week leading up to Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg’s 2026/27 Budget Speech, Eswatini’s creative community was buzzing with a rare sense of anticipation.

Following the 2025 completion of the National Arts Centre and recording studio, the consensus among local talent was that everything was finally in place. The next logical step, they predicted, would be a shift towards direct funding, artist grants and operational support.

However, as the E36.9 billion fiscal plan was tabled on Friday, those predictions met a sobering reality. While the budget is anchored in the principle of ‘agape love’, the financial data reveals that the love remains largely structural.

Just days before the budget, the local arts sector voiced specific hopes for this fiscal cycle.

Their predictions were not for more buildings but for accessibility:

• Stella Jacobs, a local rapper, noted that musicians are still self-funding their own events, such as listening sessions, out of student allowances. Her prediction was for a budget that would make the Arts Council more ‘willing to assist’ individual projects.
• Nerville Johnson, a veteran in the industry, predicted that while previous increases were applauded, they were ‘lopsidedly’ spent on big-ticket infrastructure. He forecasted a need for a percentage increase to combat rising operational costs.
• Culolami, an events organiser, remained optimistic that a ‘good budget’ could change the industry’s trajectory if it moved beyond the shiny new arts centre.

The actual figures for the Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture (ENCAC) show that these predictions of a people centred windfall fell short.

The arts sector is essentially holding its breath while other sectors under the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs accelerate.

Culolami (R) was optimistic that a ‘good budget’ could change the industry’s trajectory. (File pics)