MBABANE – A sponsorship of E210 000 was announced yesterday during the launch of this year’s Trade Fair Culture Competition.
The sponsorship was announced yesterday at the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs office in Mbabane. Three reputable organisations came together to announce the sponsor amounting to E210 000. These organisations are Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture (ENCAC), who pledged E100 000, MulaSport E50 000 and Kunotsa Foundation E60 000 worth of traditional attire, which will be given to rural teams that do not afford the necessary uniform to compete.
According to Traditional Dancers Association Chairperson Mandla Shongwe, the competitions will commence on August 30 and over 10 teams will battle in the Community category. “We will have 16 teams under Sibhaca and Lutsango. From the 16, we will have eight teams that will then go on to battle for a spot in the finals. This means the competition will be tense and we have taught the teams that the judges’ decisions are final. The finals will be on September 7. We are inviting emaSwati to come witness the competitions on August 30 and September 7,” Shongwe said. He also added that they are yet to compile and release a full schedule before the competition begins.
Minister for Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Bongani Nzima applauded the sponsors for their generosity towards elevating local culture. “I want to acknowledge the support from our partners, which is the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade through Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority (EIPA), Mulasport and Kunotsa Foundation. We thank the partnership existing between the stakeholders with the intention to drive our cultural identity. To every liSwati, exhibitors and the world at large, as a ministry we remain resolute in our pledge to place culture at the centre of our national development plan. Our continuous shared vision with our ministries and with EIPA in particular, is to present culture as a business and a professional profession for everyone,” Nzima said.
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