Musicians in the Vhembe region are worried that, while small businesses in the country will get government compensation from not operating their businesses during the 21 days of lockdown, they were not mentioned anywhere and most of them depend on shows to earn a living.
The chairperson of the Vhembe Music Forum, Dr Fhatuwani Masevhe, said they were worried that showbiz seemed to have been forgotten and their artists would starve without an income.
According to Masevhe, the government has cancelled all festivals and that will have a negative impact on the income of the artists. "Our concern is that we never heard how we were going to benefit or be compensated by the government".
The spokesperson for the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture in the province, Mr Lucky Tshilimandila, told Limpopo Mirror that artists need not panic because artists and athletes would be catered for. He mentioned that the national Department of Arts and Culture has set aside more than R160 million in this regard.
However, Tshilimandila said artists must meet specific criteria to be paid out of the fund.