MEC Leeto Congratulates Prince Kaybee & Ba2cada
The Free State MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation Me Mathabo Leeto congratulates both Kabelo Motsamai (Prince Kaybee) and Nyakallo Leine (Ba2Cada) for winning the Song of the Year and Best Radio Personality awards respectively at the inaugural DSTV Mzansi Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards held on 26 August 2017 were more than 1 million viewers voted.
These prestigious awards were aimed at celebrating and honoring local talent across the spectrum in acting, music, sport, radio and more. MEC Leeto also wishes to extend her gratitude to the people of the Free State province for their unwavering support to our artists.
Ba2Cada is the organizer of Tshepe Hip Hop Festival within MACUFE which has been running for the past 3 years and in the past he received support from the Department for the Ba2Cada Soccer Tournament that he stages annually in Botshabelo. Prince Kaybee received support from the Department for his first album which reached platinum selling status and continues to be featured as a headline act at several events were the Department is involved.
The Department continues to support Free State artists and arts practitioners in relation to its mission and vision, with the objective of creating more opportunities for these artists. Prince Kaybee and Ba2Cada have in the past received and continue to enjoy support from the Department in their various endeavors through various platforms. TheMangaung African Cultural Festival (MACUFE), which is the flagship programme of the Department, is one such platform.
This support is extended to many other Free State artists and arts practitioners to ensure the promotion, development and transformation of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation in the Free State province. The Department is proud of the following achievements, amongst many others, in the advancement of artists in the Free State:
1) Through Performing, Visual Arts and Craft programme which includes: music, clap and tap, dance, theatre, poetry, puppetry, gospel, choral music, paintings, drawing, crafts and film, a total number of 31 098 Artists participated and benefited from various events and platforms created in the Province in 2016. The benefits included paying for performance fees, awarding cash prizes, financial support to production of new music CDs and music DVDs.
2) Visual Artists and Crafters were exposed to provincial and national platforms.
3) Two (2) Free State film companies were assisted to produce a film for Mzansi Magic and a documentary on one of the Free State flagship programme which is the “Mangaung Strings”.
4) The Department has set aside a budget of R9 million to sustain the momentum around artist development programme.
5) Artists were also contracted to perform in festivals like MACUFE which is a flagship programme of the Free State Provincial Government:
- At the 2016 MACUFE Homebrew programme 350 Free State artists benefited as poets, actors, dancers, musicians, directors, choreographers and venue managers.
- The number of Free State artists participating in MACUFE has increased dramatically as we ensured that every MACUFE event has Free State artists’ presence. The total number of 498 Free State artists participated in the festival.
6) The Department spent R3 million to support the local photographers to be more professional in running their enterprises.
“These Free State artists have once more affirmed our view that the Free State Province is the cradle of talent. As a province we strive to continue to produce artists that are the best talented individuals who will be able to compete with the best of the best nationally and internationally. This task requires all stakeholders, including the private sector, to put the hands on deck because the department cannot do it alone given the resource constraints”, said MEC Leeto.
Enquiries:
Tankiso Zola
Cell: 082 940 2392
Tel: 051 – 410 4742/4786/4735
Email: tankiso@sacr.fs.gov.za
