Africa-Press – Eswatini. Choir’s participation at the inaugural African Choral and Gospel Championships (ACGC) is in limbo following the change of venue from South Africa to Rwanda. The event was initially scheduled for Johannesburg, South Africa, from 19 to 27 March. It has since been rescheduled for Kigali in Rwanda from 23 to 28 March.
The change of venue leaves the choir with a mountain to climb in as far as travelling costs are concerned since Rwanda is far from Manzini Eswatini. Choir Chairman Dr Nhlanhla Shongwe said they were aware of the change of the host country, as this was communicated to them on Friday.
“For now we have not taken a decision as we are yet to meet and look at the possibilities of attending.
We are yet to also report to the Eswatini National Council of Arts and Culture who had pledged to assist us with costs in the initial plan when the event was to be held in South Africa,” he said. He, however, hinted that chances of them attending the competition were very slim because the choir was already battling with the fees of taking the whole choir to South Africa. “Now that the competitions have been shifted to Kigali it is even worse for us because if, for example, our budget to SA was E70 000.
The latest announcement means the cost is now more than five times the initial fee.
Another factor is that the dates have basically not been changed because it is still in March only that now it will be within six days while it was initially going to take nine days,” he said.
The chairman stated that it would have been better had the new dates been shifted to other months to allow for the choirs to raise funds since travelling to the north requires air tickets and VISAs, among other things. Meanwhile, the organisers of the event announced on their social media pages, “Dear avid supporter and patron of #ACGC, we have news for you. Our event previously scheduled to happen in South Africa has been relocated to Kigali, Rwanda.
Kindly see the flyer for full details. Any inconvenience caused is acknowledged and apologised for.” The ACGC is meant to showcase the variety of the rich culture of Africa or black descent, which often resonates with the music of its people and to unite the continent with the one language that all understand music.
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