Local entertainment brand develops Cape Town youth

GroundUp: Please tell us about Ziyawamo and the work that you do.

Mzura: Ziyawamo Media Group (ZMG) is a holding company of Ziyawamo productions (events and brand activations), Ziyawamo Studios (recording and voice overs), Ziyawamo publishing (music publishing and films) and Ziyawamo online (digital marketing, online sales and publications).

GroundUp: Tell us about Ziyawamo in Cape Town.

Mzura: I am the founding and managing director. I was born and bred in Cape Town, moved to Johannesburg in 2003. The main reason to open a branch in Cape Town, is purely the lack of youth development in the entertainment industry, to offer sustainable jobs and careers and subsequently provide a different path after matric rather than your general jobs that are available, for example, nine to five jobs.

GroundUp: What is your view on youth entrepreneurship, particularly in Cape Town, and what can be done to improve it?

Mzura: The Cape Town government needs to be fully involved in youth development and programmes, not only in the CBD area, cultural and drama programmes, but urban youth programmes as well which have changed the lives of many in areas like Johannesburg and Durban. If government can invest more time and funds, high usage of alcohol, teenage pregnancy and gangsterism can be reduced. Most black youth in the province lack activities after school and after matric, especially those who have no financial support to proceed with their studies or those who can’t get jobs.

GroundUp: Is Ziyawamo running any youth development programs? Please tell us about them.

Mzura: We have just finished building a professional recording studio in the hub of New Crossroads township, which will change the lives of many youths in the province. In June, we also launched the Cape Town Youth Music Conference but we didn’t get the anticipated support from the government and corporate sector. We put the project on hold for a June 2013 launch. This programme will be a career guidance platform for all Grade 10-12 learners to seek the finer details about the entertainment industry - we will cover wider topics rather than just being recording artists. For example entertainment law, artist management, how to run a record label, how to stage a successful event, how to market your music, how to develop and manage a brand, how to make a song, facing the digital era in the entertainment business and so on. To have the right delegates speaking to the youth on conferences like this, we need firm financial backing as most youth tend to listen when they are mentored by popular faces rather than general professionals.

GroundUp: The 2nd annual Sunday Soul Sessions are coming up and it seems like many Capetonians are looking forward to them. Tell us more about them.

Mzura: Sunday Soul Sessions is Metro fm’s on-air program presented by two very popular DJs Paul Mtirara and Eddie Zondie, which has a listenership of over 1.6 million, and we noticed that Capetonians love smooth sounds. At its launch, last year, the event attracted over 4 000 people and broke a record of being the first ever event of its nature to be officially sold out in Cape Town. We saw an opportunity to create an event that would see them spending a great Sunday afternoon at least twice a year (spring and summer). This year, Ruitersvlei wine estate, on the Old Paarl road, will be our venue.

GroundUp: Tell us a bit about last year’s soul sessions and what your expectations are for this one.

Mzura: In each event we do, we always have a surprise for our patrons as part of saying “thank you” for their loyal support. All we can say, people must expect nothing but the best of the best entertainment from the soulful house presented by DJ Deep (Durban), DJ O.D (Cape Town), Aux and Rato (from our Cape Town development programme) to the main attraction Mtirara and Zondi.

Gates for the event will open from 11am-11pm, all patrons will be allowed to bring their own picnic baskets with their own preferred goodies inside, White Star super maize meal will provide free pap to all those with braai meat. Braai facilities will also be available. Tickets are available at Computicket, Shoprite/Checkers. For more information, people can visit the Ziyawamo Facebook page (ZIYAWAMO EKAPA), or follow them on Twitter (@ZIYAWAMOSA).