City gifts R1m for music boost

THE City of uMhlathuze will donate R1-million towards hosting the annual South Africa Traditional Music Awards (SATMA).

Despite various protests, the matter was approved at both the Exco and full Council sittings as an ideal platform to market and attract economic investment and tourism to the city.

The national awards, inaugurated in 2006 to bring all races and ethnic groups together through the celebration of diverse musical culture, will take place at the University of Zululand in October and a host of events are planned for the week leading up to the main function.

Speaking during the Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday, Mayor Mduduzi Mhlongo said the media, marketing and economic boost will far outweigh the sponsorship.

‘We want to bring the SATMA Awards, not for our benefit as councillors, but for our community and our citizens to enjoy this music and cultural event extravaganza.

‘Generally in KZN, we follow after eThekwini in terms of top hotels and our accommodation puts us in a good stand to benefit.

‘An event of this magnitude will see bookings being done in advance at accommodation establishments and guests will want to explore the city. Their spend will far outweigh the amount we are giving.

‘The money and value we get from all activities and services we can provided such as art work, SMME’s, hotels, leisure and the influx will benefit our malls, transport services and industry.

‘It is a national event and it is ambitious of the city to compete at that level. We are not content to just float along but we want to put ourselves out there.

‘The likelihood of attracting investment is far greater when we are in the public eye and through our marketing efforts; we need to attract investors to address job creation and poverty,’ said Mhlongo.

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