11 Jul 2017

Programme coordinator (South) at the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development says young people should consider and think about the future of the creative arts and maximise their talent to greater heights.

Speaking at the President’s Day competitions for comedy and drama, Dean Molebatsi said the youth have the ability to do more with regards to the creative arts industry.

He said it was worrying that most young people think success in the creative arts industry was through government.

“There are people who have made it without even a single thebe from government, and this should be the mentality that most people adopt,” he said.

Molebatsi noted that statistics showed that three per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the European Union (EU) was from the creative arts industry.

“This translates to roughly about 5billion euros and the industry employs about six million people. Statistics also show that 4-9 per cent of the economic output in the world is from the creative arts industry, and of that, less than one per cent is from Africa,” said Molebatsi, adding that the industry in Botswana needed to pull its weight.

The beauty of the arts is that it utilises the human mind and always amazes the consumers on some of the things performers come up with.

“Art is also a tool that people use for community mobilisation, socio-economic development, therapy, beauty, and it is not just a form of entertainment as people sometimes relate to it,” he said.

He applauded the positive contribution the President’s Day competitions have had on the industry since their inception in 2008.

In the drama category, Tse Dikgolo House of Theatre scooped position one that also came with P35 000 prize money.

Mahalapye Theatre Group and Chobe Arts got position two and three respectively and received P30 000 and P25 000 in that order.

Serala Multi Cultural Troupe completed the top four and went away with P22 500.

The play that the four groups competed with was titled Sebaga, and what the script dictated was basically a young girl called Sebaga who had studied mining engineering and had been home for two years without finding a job.

Her parents then tried to force her to go for further studies, but she opted to register her advertising company.

The comedy category had eight finalists and were all vying for the P10 000 prize money, which was won by Bokamoso Nthompe from Selibe Phikwe.

Boniface Phetolo from Ghanzi got position two and P9 000, Augustus Philemon from Francistown came third and won P8 000, Sindimba Shitah from Maun took position four and P7 000 while Oefile Mokgware of Gaborone took position five and P6 000. Abel Maruza of Gabane came sixth and bagged P5 000, Goakantswe Elijah of Maun got position seven and walked away with P4 000 while Kelebogaone Maboyoboyo came eighth and got P3 000 for his troubles. BOPA