Mohalenyane Phakela
VODACOM Lesotho has injected cash and airtime sponsorship into the Maletsunyane Braai Festival which will be held near the Maletsunyane Falls in Semonkong on 25 to 26 November this year.
Vodacom Brand marketing Manager, Ketsia Matšela, yesterday told a press conference in Maseru, that the company will foot 70 percent of the costs of organising the festival.
“We were attracted to this event by the mere fact that the organisers are keen on empowering the community of Semonkong through job creation,” Ms Matšela said.
“Since our slogan is ‘Power to You’, we saw this as an opportunity to give back and help the organisers empower the community while also promoting tourism in the country.
“We have injected an amount of money which I cannot disclose but I can reveal that it will cover 70 percent of the production costs. We will also provide airtime incentives to the patrons as well as advertising support of the show to ensure its success.”
She said tickets can be bought via their M-Pesa mobile money platform.
Maletsunyane Braai Festival was first held last year by OTB Exclusive Events Management and it attract scores of people to the area.
Apart from Vodacom Lesotho, this year the organisers have partnered with the Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation and Back to the Woods. They will be supported by the Lesotho Mounted Police and the Semonkong community.
The first instalment was entrance free and lasted a day.
This time there will be an entrance fee which the organisers said is meant to cover logistics such as lighting, sound, toilets, showers as well as pay community members employed at the festival (from 100 to 150 people).
On Saturday there will be a ‘chilled braai day’ with games such as paintball, quad-biking and horse riding.
There will be a musical festival in the evening featuring local artistes. Visitors will either camp or sleep at community members’ houses (homestays) for a fee of not more than M200.
