Free State Premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae, has recommitted to the government mandate of developing local artists and the growth of small businesses.

This as the province re-launched the week-long Mangaung African Cultural Festival known as Macufe. With the provincial government allocating R18-million for the event, Letsoha-Mathae announced that there will be no tender going out for the management of its flagship cultural showcase.

Instead, the event will be managed by the provincial Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation.

This tough stance taken by the provincial government follows two years of Macufe hiatus and tender disputes that marred the event in 2022.

Letsoha-Mathae says, unlike private business, government’s role is to ensure inclusivity in economic activity.

“Macufe is different from other festivals that are being done here. Remember we go district by district, we identify talents we encourage people, so that’s a responsibility of government in making sure that talent grows in our province. So it’s different from what these other people are doing. Theirs is to run festivals, they don’t do these road shows and so on.”

Free State MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Zanele Sifuba says Macufe comes back as a recalibrated event that will focus on developing and creating a platform for local artists, as well as position the Free State as a destination of choice.

“Our budget in terms of the budget that I tabled at the legislature during my budget vote is R18 million, far less than had been used before. That is why we had to come up with creative ways of saying the little that we have, how do we stretch it to make sure that we reach as many people as possible without losing that flair of our flagship programme, which is Macufe.”

Lifestyle | Macufe Festival set to take place in September