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OVER E4M INCREASE FOR ARTS & CULTURE

27/02/2023 07:59:00 Phumzile Ndlovu

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MBABANE - Last week Friday the Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenbeg presented the Budget for 2023 in Parliament before cabinet.

The Arts and Culture Council falls under the Ministry of Sports Culture and Youth Affairs which was allocated E85 million. The previous year it received E69 million. This year saw an increase of E16 million for the ministry which has different associations namely; Youth Affairs for Youth Development Fund, National Football Association, National Youth Council, Eswatini Sports Council and Council of Arts and Culture. Arts and Culture saw an almost double increase from previous years as this year it was allocated E8 682 735, yet the previous year was E3 979 360 and the year before that.

This almost double increase in allocation is much welcomed as the previous years didn’t get an increase, yet this year saw the addition of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act which was established in 2018,finally come to ‘life’. It came through Senator Manqoba Khumalo, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade. This is according to a government gazette dated July 27, 2021, which announced that the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act of 2018 came into force on August 1, 2021. According to copyright.gov, copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to make copies of a creative’s work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form.

Artists have decried the fact that they were not compensated for their royalties which is impossible with the Copyright Act being active. It’s worth noting that just last week the Copyright Board announced that they were now hiring the right people for the association to start operating. In an exclusive interview with this publication on Friday after the budget was tabled in Parliament , the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga, when asked about this year’s allocation said; “We appreciate that they have added money to what we have asked for. E16 million increase is not a true reflection of what we had asked for.

Challenge

As we were having a challenge with the different associations such as Arts and Culture, Sports and Youth Council. We were not able to provide proper service as the cost of admintration had gone up, which was taking most of the budget, hence we asked for the increase, so we can give them a better subvention so they have programmes that will speak to the youth directly.” He went on to say that Arts and Culture needs support for programmes especially the upcoming artists while they, trying to establish themselves, also in terms of helping them secure venues to host their shows. “We asked for more money for the industry so we can provide rehearsal rooms for upcoming artists and organise small shows to introduce themselves. As we analyse the budget we will then see what is allocated, as only today the lump sum was revealed,” said Bulunga.

When quizzed about royalties not being back dated for three years he said, “The Royalties issue is complicated because even though the Act was brought into effect in 2018, it only became operational last year. The structure needs to register and open the office of the copyright for artist to register their music, hence it will be a challenge to backdate for artists to get their royalties.’’ Eswatini Arts and Music Association (SWAMA) President Lutfo Dlamini was also asked for his opinion about the E16 million increase, he said: “We were expecting a lot given the challenges we have. However, what’s encouraging is the Copyright Act development which will take care of most challenges we have, if it can come to effect quickly. However, the challenge with the sports budget, ends up taking care of paying salaries and none goes to the youth to help with their projects. We pray that this year we get more grants so we make more money. We pray that the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) should budget for when the copyright kicks in, government through it should pay the artists. But I am excited with commerce and copyright coming into effect. And since ministry of Finance said we have money this year, if there’s a need we will take from the supplementary budget.’’