ACAESWA E500 SUBSCRIPTION UNPACKED

MBABANE – The Association of Christian Artists of Eswatini (ACAESWA) charges artists an annual subscription of E500.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a subscription is the act of making or agreeing to make an advance payment in order to receive or participate in something. ACAESWA is an association for Christian artists locally, with the main aim of grooming and exposing Gospel artists to relevant stages. The association is currently operating under the leadership of Mcolisi Vilakati after Gospel musician Phetsile Masilela stepped down in February this year. The current President, Vilakati, shared with this publication that the E500 subscription helps in the execution of workshops and events for artists.

President Mxolisi Vilakati

The association works exactly as a union; its mandate is to protect the interests of members. The E500 is only meant to revive membership. If there are events that are within the calendar of the association, the first preference goes to the members who have subscribed. When we host Gospel awards, we do it for members who are in good standing. This is also the same for national events; when the country or Home Affairs needs artists, we provide them with members who are in good standing,” Vilakati said. He went on to unpack some of the benefits that come with the E500 annual subscription and further encouraged artists for subscribe to the association.

“The subscription does not only cater for artists when it comes to events. There are duties that the association does on behalf of artist subscriptions: We do legal representation for the artists, we workshop the artists, we protect their interests, and we also protect them against piracy. In the country, the association works as an affiliate of the Eswatini ‘National Council of Arts and Culture. We have a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a number of different companies,” said the president. He went on to say that they are currently working with Destiny Group for the MTN iPraise, where first preference will be given to members who have subscribed when they want to have access to their artists.

He further said they will give the subscribed artists the platform, as they don’t want anyone to be left behind. “There are a number of companies with which we have a memorandum of understanding, and we would like to encourage artists, including upcoming ones, to join the association because the platforms avail themselves, and we know that this is something that is always available, so we want to give it to artists,” Vilakati said.

Nothado Dlamini

Gospel musician Nothado Dlamini only subscribed last year. She said that a majority of artists are still lacking funds locally, and this leads to fewer members subscribing. “I am still new in terms of membership because I was only able to subscribe last year; I have not yet subscribed for this year. A majority of us as artists still don’t have enough money to maintain subscriptions. They would usually engage us via the association group that we have, where they would plead with us to subscribe because very few members usually do. As artists in the country we are still struggling. The struggle is not only about giving out the E500; it goes beyond that. In South Africa, musicians are getting royalties, which is money that can assist them in making subscriptions. If we were to also get that kind of money, we would be able to always subscribe,” the musician said.

Sphiwo Ndoni

Gospel musician Sphiwo Ndoni, who has shared the stage with the likes of Rebecca Malope, Nduduzo Matse, Takie Ndou, Thinas Zungu as well as Sbu Noah says that he believes that the association can do much better as he has been able to benefit from it. “If I remember very well, I have been a member since 2015. I think I have benefitted from being a member. Well I still believe that the association can do much better in future for the local artists. I do encourage that we all subscribe to the association I think that will help the organisation to be able to execute all the plans they have,” Ndoni said.

Linda Dlamini

Gospel musician Linda Dlamini is one of the artists who were once members of ACAESWA for several years. He shared with this publication that the subscription worked for him at some point. “I was once a member of ACAESWA for five years. I think previously, the subscription worked for me, especially when the association had to recommend artists for an event.
I would get bookings, but not as many, as bookings were only two per cent. Just because ACAESWA is a local organisation that works with artists, I would say that it is necessary for artists as well as upcoming artists to subscribe and become members of the association. “There are issues that are there in the association, but then tibi tendlu,” Dlamini said.

Mpela Mndawe

Gospel musician Mpela Mndawe shared with this publication that subscribing to the association has helped him as he has been able to receive various invitations as an artist, which was motivated by the association. “I am actually a member of the association, and it’s been two years now. Being a member of the association has helped me a lot, as this is an entity that looks at the needs of artists. They once helped us get an invitation for a show that featured South African artists; there were four of us, if I remember very well. With these words, I am trying to say the subscription is very helpful; they are able to make things happen as well as handle your office work as an artist.” Mpela went on to say that the association further promotes you as an artist. According to him, he would definitely encourage other artists to subscribe to the association, as this will help expose their talent. Mndawe concluded by saying that the association is one of the entities that probed the royalties issue, so if the royalties are sorted and one is not a member, they will miss out on a lot of things as an artist.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: