adminNtombiyolwandle Ndlovu, Sunday Leisure Reporter
ARTISTES in Bulawayo believe the Bulawayo City Council’s poster laws that require them to advertise their shows only after getting the city fathers’ approval are undermining efforts to bring local arts to the people.
The city council by-laws stipulate that no posters should be displayed within the Bulawayo municipal boundary without the local authority’s authorisation.
Also, the by-law requires artistes to fork out the little money they make from the entertainment industry as each poster that is to be displayed costs $2 — a high price for local artistes that are struggling to make a living from their art.
BCC, however, argues that the law is just.
“The charges for the display of posters in the municipal boundaries are fair,” said Mrs Nesisa Mpofu, the council senior public relations officer.
Tomeki Dube of Black Umfolosi rubbished the council’s claim that the law is fair as he believes it is a block to the growth of the arts industry in the city.
“We respect the city council by-laws and we don’t want to see Bulawayo dirty. However, I believe they are better ways of dealing with that rather than setting high poster fees which in reality have actually pushed many artistes out of business,” said Dube.
Dube said the high poster fees have now forced them to opt for private functions rather than public shows.
“We would rather do more of private shows rather than public shows because it is expensive to advertise through posters.
Besides the poster fees there are other bills that also need to be paid, like the venue and this is a rainy season, posters might be washed away or people might not even turn up as expected. One can only imagine the cost of displaying 500 posters,” said Dube.
Nkululeko Sibanda, a promoter in the city also weighed in.
“I personally think that $2 is an exorbitant price. It actually forces promoters to stay away from the council and put up posters unlawfully. This is actually creating a situation of enmity between promoters and the council. For this reason, I believe there is a need for the council to sit down with the arts industry and find common ground. I believe there is a need for a reasonable price for posters,” said Sibanda.
Sibanda also said it is high time the city council partners artistes for the development of the arts industry rather than biting the hand that feeds them.
“Dialogue between the city council and the promoters is needed. The council should desist from removing posters that they see on the streets that they believe are unpaid for but rather should contact the promoter and interact on the way forward.
The council should engage with the promoters rather than removing the posters without the consent of the promoters,” he said.
Khulekani Bethule of Bulawayo Music Association also lamented the poster fees, saying they were too high.
“The city council poster fees are very expensive and the city council should consider reducing them because most artistes cannot afford them,” said Bethule.
Bethule expressed concern saying that the fees were affecting the music industry especially upcoming musicians.
“These fees are affecting our upcoming artistes because they cannot afford to pay them. Because of this most of the artistes are now resorting to advertising on social media. Social media is, however, a disadvantage as not everyone is in these platforms and this limits the audience the artistes are getting,” he said.
The by-law for posters was introduced in 1976 and is included in the Traffic by-laws which prohibit the display of any posters on any municipal infrastructure, road signs, information signs and walls.
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