Times Of Swaziland: CREATIVES OPEN UP ON AWARDS VOTES BUDGET

CREATIVES OPEN UP ON AWARDS VOTES BUDGET
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Mxolisi Dlamini on 06/02/2024 09:41:00


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.