“Macufe is dead.” This is according to media personality and former producer at PowerFM, Bangi Msikinya, who cited the lack of event marketing, the doing away of holding events in the township as well as the scraping of pop-up stalls as some of the reasons why he believes the province’s most celebrated festival has lost relevance.
While he added that the attitude of Bloem locals, who are notorious for their lack of hospitality, is also a contributing factor, Msikinya said a large chunk of the problems Macufe is now facing are owing to the decisions of the festival’s organisers.
“Macufe has become a money-making scheme, rather than a world-class festival that empowers the locals economically through local tourism and the exposure it gives local artists to these international acts,” Msikinya said.
“Remember, when Macufe was held at first, we were excited as locals because it was the first time we knew for a fact that we were going to see world-class acts in our city. Especially in light of the fact that Bloemfontein was a place where nothing ever happened,” he added.
However, over the years, the festival has become more about outsiders coming into the city and less about locals, he said. “The focus right now is how much of this money goes back into the city? Can we account for this money and what it does for the city from a financial point of view,” he quizzed.
Also sharing Msikinya’s sentiments, is Khaliso Pitso, who is the Performance and Sector Leader at the Creative & Cultural Industries Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA). In a statement released by the organisation earlier this year on 26 August, Pitso echoed Msikingya’s utterances, also adding that in recent years, while the budget for the festival had increased, there had been little development of local talent in the province resulting from the event.
“On its 20th year – 2017 – the Macufe budget is R40 million and still artistic activities haven’t increased… The fact that the Department of Sports, Arts, Culture & Recreation (SACR) is the custodian of the festival and provincial government is fully behind the festival with public funds, we believe that it’s only fair to Free State people, mainly the creative workers, to benefit the most,” Pitso said in the statement.
He further stated that considering that the event is in its twentieth year running and that all other economic spin-offs of the festival benefit financially, he believed that 20% of the budget (R8 million) should go directly to Free State creative workers being artists, technical, production and marketing.
“We want the festival to go back to basics where the city was vibrant with activities. We want creative workers to showcase their talent and get decent payment. We also want all districts to be part of the festival and those that deserve to be in the mainstream of the festival to be given time slots that can uplift and market their products,” Pitso said in the lengthy statement as he defended his reasons for the 20% budget demand.
Meanwhile, spokesperson for the provincial SACR department, Tankiso Zola has not responded comprehensively to Bloemfontein Courant’s questions in this regard and simply stated that its office would issue a media statement regarding the festival outcomes on Wednesday.
Opposition parties have in the past called for the axing of the festival, however, MEC of Finance in the province, Elzabe Rockman, revealed in this year’s provincial budget speech that a feasibility study conducted in the province found that the festival directed millions more into the province than the amount allocated by the provincial SACR department.
PULANE CHOANE
