05 Jul 2021

Moshupa office completed phase one recording over the weekend as part of the ongoing cross country recording extravaganza organised by the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC).

The ministry’s programmes officer, Nono Masilonyane, said the video recordings were held in the absence of the audience and would be compiled with those from other regions to be aired during President’s Day Holidays.

“As a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in government putting in place extreme social distancing measures with the objective of containing the spread of the virus, this has necessitated the adoption of new approaches towards creating platforms that are in accordance with the COVID-19 protocols, hence the adoption of the cross country recording extravaganza,” she said.

Masilonyane said the move was part of the many initiatives that the ministry held to stimulate the creative sector by engaging the sector in an effort to cushion it from the effects of COVID-19.

“It has been two years since the halting of our annual performances namely the Constituency Arts competitions and the Presidents Day Competitions for ease of congestion and our creative sector has been hard hit as a result of that,” she said.

In that respect, she said their office, which catered for Moshupa/Manyana constituency, had been allocated a budget of P165 000 prize money to allocate in categories for phase one of the cross country recording extravaganza with P365 000 of the amount set aside to cover the cost of logistics.

Masilonyane indicated that, due to the constraints in the budget allocated for prize monies, they selected the top two for each category, of which the winner was selected on a tossing basis.

She, however, urged those who had not been selected so far not to despair as they stood to benefit in the phase two of the extravaganza that begins in August.

First on the act for the recordings that were held in Ranaka at Downstream Gardens was an exceptional performance by Tsunami Choir, with their two pieces being Pitso e Kgolo and Rara Re Utlwele Botlhoko, which sought God’s intervention.

The recordings for the different other genres were then held in Moshupa at Moshupa Dam.

Those ranged from traditional dance by Kuka La Setso Group, Segaba by Joba Segatlhe, Setinkane by Moses Kgaodi and Disk Jockey by Otsile Mogopa aka DJ Oats Kay.

Other scintillating performances included Live Band, Drama, Katara, Comedy, as well as Traditional and Contemporary Poetry. ENDS