ART’S SAME OLD BUDGET STORY

MBABANE – It’s the same old story of local arts not being recognised. The art industry will continue to suffer as there has been no increase in this year’s government budget
In this year’s budget, the Swaziland National Council of Arts and Culture (SNCAC) has been allocated only E3 313 360.

This is the same amount that was allocated to the council last year. The council is under the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs.

Activities

In fact the only time when the SNCAC received an increment was in 2016 where the budget increased from E2 313 360 to E3 313 360.
Since then there has been no increase something that has been affecting the rolling out of some of the activities by the SNCAC.
The SNCAC has affiliates which are beneficiaries of the money given to the council by government.

Some of the associations that  are supposed to benefit from the allocation are, Swaziland Arts and Music Association (SWAMA), Swaziland National Choral Music Association (SNCMA) and the Association of Christian Artists in Swaziland (ACASWA).
Earlier in the year, SNCAC, through it’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stanley Dlamini, had indicated that the E3 313 360 budget was not enough to run all the activities by the council.

Improved

He noted that for the council to be in a position of making sure that all their activities run smoothly and improved, they need at least E5 million.
When called yesterday, the CEO who sounded disappointed said the SNCAC Board was yet to meet and discuss the issues surrounding the budget.

“The Board will have time to articulate and make sense of the budget. Truly it is not going to be  an easy year, especially with the swelling council activities,” he said.
SWAMA, who are beneficiaries, said it was very disappointing to learn that even this year there has been no increase in the SNCAC budget.

“It is very disappointing because we want to improve the arts to international standards. How then do we do that with no funds,” said Melusi Dlamini, SWAMA President.
He added, “It’s the same old story every year but one can never get used to it. We remain hopeful and optimistic of the future though. Arts are a lifeline for many young people out there.”

Loss

Ronnie Dlamini, ACASWA Public Relations Officer (PRO), said they thought the budget would increase this year, adding that they too were left  at a loss for words.
“There are a lot of activities that fall under the SNCAC. The fact that the budget does not increase makes things worse for us as associations. We hope that government will consider increasing the budget as it is not enough for the local art industry,” he said.

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