(Pic by William Charlton-Perkins: Mbongeni Ngema)
Committed Artists take over the running of Empangeni-based community television network. (Report by William Charlton-Perkins)
Newsmaker Mbongeni Ngema has announced that his company, Committed Artists, has taken over the running of Bay TV, the Empangeni-based community television network, with effect from April 1, 2010.
The station, which first went on air on October 15, 2009, presently covers a wide area of northern and central KwaZulu-Natal. Its current span ranges along the KZN coastline, from Richards Bay to Stanger and Kwa Mashu near Durban, and reaches inland to the Drakensberg, and other regions including Ladysmith, Nkandla and Pongola.
Interviewed this week, Ngema disclosed that he was initially approached by Bay TV prior to the station’s going on air last year, to assist with funding to pay SANTECH for its broadcasting licence. In the light of Bay TV’s subsequent financial struggle to sustain its operations, it again approached Ngema, and he has now agreed to take over the full-time running of the station under the aegis of his Committed Artists base.
Ngema said the take-over will see a name-change from ‘Bay TV’ to ‘Zulu TV’ as the new station’s envisaged programme content will aim for an approximate 70/30 split in isiZulu and English respectively.
“We are applying to extend our coverage to embrace the whole of KwaZulu-Natal, as well as reaching the Eastern Cape, Lesotho, Mozambique and Swaziland. To ensure the feasibility of this expansion, we will need to increase our broadcast capacity by acquiring 10 transmitters. The station currently operates with just one transmitter. We plan to devote 80% of our broadcast material to local content, with a strong focus on material relating to KwaZulu-Natal. Demographically the province has a rich cultural mix, given its population of Zulu-speakers, Indian communities and whites. To ensure a degree of international coverage, we will also be linking up with Voice of America and other networks, and we have approached Multichoice to include Zulu TV as part of its DSTV bouquet options.”
Besides programming talk shows and music and news items, Ngema says his plans for Zulu TV also include the introduction of television drama productions, again focusing largely on the work of local artists.
“There is a wealth of material to draw from here, when one looks back on 30 years of working in the theatre. Besides creating new material, there is the strong feasibility of adapting established stage pieces for television. We have already been in touch with the Market Theatre management, and my discussions with the company’s CEO, Malcolm Purkey, have been exciting.”
Planning for KZN’s expanded Zulu TV community station accords with Ngema’s objectives of a developing a more vibrant cultural work environment in the province. In this regard, the new television network initiative can be seen as a positive step forward following the opening last year of the new Durban-based KZN Music House.
It is no secret that Gauteng has long been seen as the place to be to make ends meet - in all fields of the performing arts. This has historically resulted in an ongoing exodus of artists moving upcountry in search of success. The irony of this is that KwaZulu-Natal is known as South Africa’s prime producer of big talent. Think Sibongile Khumalo, think Ladysmith Black Mambazo, gospel star Deborah Fraser, and a host of others. Not least among these is Ngema himself, renowned for his string of award-winning stage block-busters such as Asinamali, Sarafina, Township Fever, Magic at 4 am, Mama, Maria-Maria, The Zulu, House of Shaka, 1906 Bhambada The Freedom Fighter and, most recently, Lion of the East. Many of these have taken the world by storm over the past three decades.
Now on the music front plans have taken off to counter the cultural brain drain from the province. Composer-musician-actor-playwright-director-producer Ngema has spearheaded this initiative over the past 18 months or more under the banner of the newly formed KZN Music House, with backing from the Departments of Economic Development and Tourism, and Arts and Culture.
The new state-of-art recording studio is situated adjacent to Durban’s Greyville Race Course, alongside the city’s former historic Documentation Centre. The latter has become the administrative building that houses KZN Music House, and its affiliate company, Committed Artists. This means that besides being the home of one of South Africa’s most active theatre companies, the complex is now the nerve centre for a recording industry right in the heart of Durban. Its business plan encompasses a self-sufficient recording infrastructure, including product design and packaging, warehousing, distribution, and marketing.
“The time is right for the industry to progress on a healthy footing within our own music community,” says Ngema. “First-time artists working with KZN Music House are given a leg-up by being able to use the new facility free, or at minimal cost, thereafter having to pay their way.”
Artists signed for recording include jazz star Natalie Rungan, Afro Pop exponent Nkiyase, uSuthu isicathamiya group, DJ Mlisa, gospel groups Isigcino and Abalindi, and the Danish group Papaya, who have a range of Zulu songs in their repertoire.
Busi Mhlongo’s new album, AmaKholwa (The Believers) was recorded by KZN Music House in a joint venture partnership with House of Memories, and has been nominated for a SAMA award. So have the new recordings of Abalindi and Isigcino - in all, a major coup for a recently launched recording studio. Clearly, the synergy between Committed Artists, KZN Music House and Zulu TV can have great impact, as the latter will afford a platform for local practitioners in all fields of the performing arts to be nurtured while gaining exposure in the public eye.
Move over SABC 1. Mr Ngema is on your case! For further information call 031 309 2030. – William Charlton-Perkins
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