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Bongani Ndlovu Chronicle Correspondent
INFORMATION, Media and Broadcasting Services Deputy Minister, Cde Supa Mandiwanzira last night castigated indigenous companies for supporting foreign festivals and shunning locally organised ones. Officially opening the Inxusa Festival at Amakhosi Cultural Centre, Cde Mandiwanzira said local companies were not doing enough to support the local arts industry. He questioned the lack of corporate presence at the festival yet indigenous executives sat on boards of banks and other firms.
“Where is the corporate sector? There are people like me who are indigenous who sit on these boards but do not the support local arts. These corporates are racist as banks line up to be part of non- indigenous festivals and support them,” he said.
He gave the example of Alliance Française in Harare which had murals from Old Mutual and other companies plastered on different walls but at festivals like Inxusa there were only a handful.
He said he learnt that Cont Mhlanga, the director of the festival had built Amakhosi Cultural Centre with the help of foreign organisations.
“It is my first time to come to Amakhosi and I am thoroughly impressed with what Cont Mhlanga has done. He built this place without the help, even from government, but with funding from other organisations that are out of the country. We would like to thank him for the enormous work he has done and continues to do,” he said.
Bulawayo, he said, had the capacity to be the country’s entertainment hub.
“Bulawayo has capacity and potential to take leadership to become the cultural entertainment centre of the country. We have groups in the country that are household names such as Iyasa, Black Umfolosi among others. We need to build and invest in infrastructure at such centres to grow the industry,” said the Deputy Minister.
The official opening ceremony began with Cde Mandiwanzira planting a tree at the cultural centre. Thereafter he toured the centre and was shown radio station equipment. The delegates then went to the main arena where they watched a two-hour play by Women in Theatre entitled Song of a Woman.
The Deputy Minister said such plays should be made into television programmes that tell the Zimbabwean story.
Online Reporter