Soweto music industry entrepreneur scoops Incubator Mentorship

Twenty-six-year-old Ernest Gololo came out tops during the hotly fought Entrepreneurship Skills Game Workshop that was overseen by the Cultural Development Trust (CDT) and took place on the last day (September 4th) of the free workshops series held at the Barney Simon Gallery (Market Theatre) in Newtown, Johannesburg.

Gololo - who is based in Diepkloof - is to use the mentorship to benefit his ‘Slaghuis' Hip Hop company which is currently also involved in events, promotions and recordings.

Comments CDT's Executive Co-Director, Nzali Jordan, “This entrepreneurship session is one of CDT's initiatives to inculcate entrepreneurship skills culture amongst youth and is designed to encourage innovation, entrepreneurship and business development especially for emerging artists.”

The Cultural Entrepreneurship Incubator Award is an initiative run by CDT in conjunction with Stichting Doen to assist emerging artists with setting up their business or organisation by making available an amount of R25 000 in kind as a startup fund. “In the end, CDT would like to see this project coming off ground to a stage of independence, hence CDT will mentor and closely monitor the award winner all the step of the way,” says Jordan. “We hope this will be a start of a success story and that the project will have a positive impact on the local communities.”

The aim of Hands On Mic Off! at Moshito was to provide musicians with skills transfer and empowering workshops which will assist them in dealing with the challenges they face as musicians on a daily basis. The emphasis was on the practical application and relevance to the Southern African music industry - and the three-day free workshop series took its impetus from the very successful Hands On Masks Off! workshops run by the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

Among the experts giving input to members of the music industry were Mark Rosin, from Rosin Wright Rosengarten Legal Firm, Bradley Williams from Matchboxology's 360 degrees music and brands agency, Business and Arts South Africa CEO, Michelle Constant, editor, critic, and creative couch Kobus Burger and David Thatanelo April, Nzali Jordan and Gloria Makxeta of the Cultural Development Trust.

• Business and Arts South Africa is an internationally recognised South African development agency which integrates the Arts into and contributes to Corporate's commercial success. With a suite of integrated programmes Business and Arts South Africa encourages mutually beneficial partnerships between business and the arts. Business and Arts South Africa was founded in 1997 as a joint initiative of government and the business sector, to secure the future development of the arts industry in South Africa, through increased corporate sector involvement. Established as a Section 21 company, Business and Arts South Africa is accountable to both government and its business members. www.basa.co.za

• The Cultural Development Trust (Cuhede) was established in 2001. The Trust's main aim is to help both emerging and established artists, be it as individual artists or a group, with finding information and training in all aspects of management, financial and other administrative processes in the arts and culture sector. www.cuhede.org.za