CREATIVES OPEN UP ON AWARDS VOTES BUDGET

MBABANE – A number of creatives spent lucrative amounts when it comes to voting in the recent Eswatini Creatives Awards (ECA).

The ECA awards ceremony was hosted by Swaziboy Entertainment at Ezulwini Sharma House on Saturday. This publication spoke to a number of creatives who were nominated for the awards to find out how far they went in spending money for votes. Worth mentioning is the fact that creatives only received awards upon being announced winners, there were no additional prices. The likes of Photographer Malangeni Dlamini, MC Paster Bae, make-up artist Candice Langelihle Mdluli and Dr Shakes were kind enough to share their voting experiences with us.  

Malangeni Dlamini, who is a photographer running a stable known as Deelangza Photography, is one of the winners who walked away with an award on the day. He won the ‘Best photographer’ award for the second time, since he was also the winner last year. When asked about how much he spent on votes, he highlighted a lucrative amount and shared that he was backed by his clients and supporters during the voting process. “Some of the voting money came from my clients and it amounted to E1 800. I am not sure how much was spent by my other supporters. Personally, I spent almost E2 500 for my votes,” Dlamini said. This publication also spoke to Thamie Ndlovu, famously known as Pastor Bae, who won the ‘Best MC’ award. In his response, he appreciated the win and further shared that he did not spend money for votes but his supporters voted for him.

goosebumps

“Winning the award is exciting and very interesting. It brings those goosebumps given that one was not expecting the win, looking at the competition around. I was facing one of the formidable creatives, the likes of Mdura and Ndosh who have done some amazing work in the industry. Fortunately for me, I had no money, it’s been a while since I received my salary and the last time I got my salary was last year in November. When the voting process started I didn’t have any money so I was relying on people for the voting. If you follow my page ‘Pastor Bae’ on Facebook, it was the people who were sending me money for the voting. I would come back to also report on social media saying here is your money I have voted. You would find that the voting process would take a bit longer so they would send me the money to vote,” Ndlovu said.

Candice Langelihle Mdluli who won ‘Best make-up artist’, also shared her side of the story, citing that she was happy to have won the award. “The feeling is amazing; it is actually going to open doors for me. This achievement is really going to take me places, I am blessed. My family has been supportive, I remember someone sending me airtime worth E200 and that’s the most airtime I have ever received in my lifetime. From piling things up, I can say I spent over E1 200 just for voting,” Mdluli said.

Shared

Dr Shakes, who was nominated under ‘Best Comedian’, which is an award that ended up being won by stand-up comedians Gogo and S’lwane, shared that he would have spent his money for votes if he was going to receive an incentive after winning the award. “Personally I never voted but then I did upload the poster to ask people to vote for me. I believe that in such competitions, one should be awarded based on the work that you have done. Once you vote for yourself it becomes more like buying the award. I saw a post on Facebook where a person wrote that voting for yourself is self-care and self-love. All I am saying is that a person should be voted for by his followers,” the comedian said.

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