Businesses in Mbombela have been coining it since the 19th Metro FM Music Awards rolled into the Mpumalanga capital city this past week.
Kruger Lowveld Enhlanzeni’s marketing manager Buyi Shongwe told Sunday World that the spin-offs of hosting the national music awards are not just confined to Mbombela as a city, with an economy that is heavily dependent on tourism, but nearby townships such as Kanyamazane and Lekazi were also reaping rewards.
“It is not only the formal sector that is benefiting because we also see night lounges, even though they are not doing official Metro FM Awards events, organising something special to cater for the patrons. The townships also have small places of entertainment,” said Shongwe.
“We see locals being entrepreneurial, with some being employed as car guards, some putting up spots for food/drinks. These jobs may be temporary but do also feed into the economy.
“There are also street vendors. We expect that extra staff is on hand in restaurants and within the nightlife space.”
She said businesses that provide accommodation were fully booked.
“This is great news. This shows that we have the capacity to be a serious contender in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions sector.
“We appreciate the awareness that is created, which shows that investment opportunities abound. We have seen the team [out of town SABC radio stations such as Radio 2000] broadcast from various tourist attractions in the build up to the event, enticing event goers to explore more when [visiting] our region,” said Shongwe.
She said the business community was so happy with the awards being hosted in Mbombela that they would be pleased to see them returning to the city.
“We wish to host more of such events to show the world that Mbombela is capable of hosting such events,” she said.
City of Mbombela spokesperson Joseph Ngala said: “A national event of this magnitude means a lot to us and there is going to be a lot of activity in the city. It means bed and breakfasts would be full and hospitality outlets would be abuzz.”
He said the event was assisting the businesses that were hit hard by the Covid-19 lockdown, which saw a lot of tourism enterprises in the city shutting down.
Ngala expressed the city’s wish to host the awards for the next consecutive 10 years. “If we could perhaps tie them down for a five- to 10-year period that would be better for us. Because once you establish that kind of relationship you are able to prepare better for subsequent events of the same calibre,” state Ngala.
Issa Mlambo, executive chairperson of Mbombela-based Black Business Association of South Africa, said though established businesses that provide accommodation and food were benefiting from the event, he was concerned that small businesses would generate little revenue.
“During such events, consumers tend to gravitate towards established business. For us as an SME sector, you’d find that our offering doesn’t meet the standards of the people who go to the Metro FM Awards.
“However, our business will generate crumbs by serving people who don’t have enough money to go to established business. We will offer them guest houses in townships,” he said.
Mlambo said though the small enterprises benefited little from big events in the city, that did not mean “we do not appreciate the little that we receive from the Metro FM Awards last year”.
He pleaded with the government to help with funding to capitalise SMEs so that they could improve their service offering.
“We also want government to assist in providing training to entrepreneurs so that they can also know how to manage their business finances.”
