Creative pool underutilised in anti-coronavirus drive
Spira Tlhankane | Saturday April 4, 2020 13:30
A lot of Batswana tuned into South African DJs doing their magic on Channel O's Lockdown Party on Friday featuring Botswana's very own DJ Fresh among others.
Now some local DJs have come out to express that the same thing could be replicated in Botswana but strict government lockdown measures and lack of support for the creative industry is making everything impossible. Botswana has a number of TV stations like Botswana Television, Maru TV and Now TV just to mention but a few, which all air on DStv.
In an interview with Showtime, local music promoter and DJ Lucy said what is stopping them is the government because the latter does not take their industry seriously. 'It is even difficult because TV and radio stations do not easily allow non-government workers to work with them. There is a lot of protocol to follow in order to use government resources and if you do not work for the government it is worse, ' he said.
DJ Lucy said the lockdown was not thought out on time to give artists and DJs time to put up suggestions of live sessions. 'Channel O had long prerecorded some sessions and their government is in support of their initiative. This lockdown was announced on Tuesday by the President and Thursday was the last day of getting permits so it is difficult that is why most of the artists do it at their houses and we watch via mobile phones,' he highlighted.
For his part DJ KSB who is one of the resident DJs at Btv's Flava Dome said he has already sent his proposals to Flava Dome bosses because at this time they should not be watching Channel O. He added that since the government is willing to help people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, there should be a budget for artists to do televised shows that can keep Batswana entertained instead of watching South African entertainment channels.
'A show that lasts four hours on Fridays and Saturdays every week until this thing is over can work. We do not have concerts anymore and Btv is the only mainstream television station that we depend on so they also need help from the government to make this happen,' he said.
DJ KSB said this will not just be about entertainment but will also inform people because the latter look up to them. He said government could capitalise on this to spread COVID-19 messages in between the shows because it will be a prime time show and a lot of people would be tuning in.
'Some people do not have time to watch news so they need us to spread messages with ease,' he expressed. He said they are struggling to get permits because they are self-employed. 'We are needed at this time because of our following but the government has forgotten us,' he said. DJ KSB also said the 28-day lockdown is the time for artists to capitalise and get their music played, which will increase their royalties during the next collection. 'We are ready so we need TV stations to give us the platform to make money and inform the nation in the process,' he said.