SADC Executive Secretary Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax yesterday morning received a three-man strong delegation from Akwafrica Productions with good tidings of partnering SADC in communicating itself through art, a medium that no doubt has the capacity of traversing many boundaries to reach all.
The delegation comprised of Mr António José Augusto, Akwafrica Productions Director, Mr. Thami Maswanganyi for Business & Corporate Affairs and Dr. Vicente Figueiredo the Legal Adviser. They submitted the initiative: Artists United to Send a Global Message in Protection of the Ecosystem in the SADC Region to Dr. Tax who welcomed it as it is seeks to address a felt need of the Region.
With the moto: By Africans to Africans for the World - IMOSHI - WE ARE ONE - SOMOS UM SÓ!, the initiative involves a broad-spectrum of stakeholders from the SADC Region and it is anticipated to garner various forms of the much needed support for regional integration.
Best known as "Tony N'guxi", Mr. Augusto’s works include Zambeze “Mankind’s Home Tchianda & Jass Weza Yaya” and “Eu Ainda Sou Uma Criança – transformer os campos de batalha em parques infantis”, meaning, I am only a child – Transforming battlefields into playgrounds. The latter is premised on a song that this Angolan Artist and Director got sung by children from Angolan, France, Namibian, South Africa and Sweden. It was inspired by children Tony N’Guxi found playing with what used to be a gun while singing when he was on a recording mission to Cuito Cuanavale, site of the 1988 historical decisive battle that ushered in, amongst others, the withdrawal of the then South African Apartheid Regime’s Defence Force from Angola, the implementation of United Nations Security Council 435 peace plan for Namibia and indeed leading to the democratisation of South Africa, thus completing the political decolonisation of Southern Africa.
Picture:
From left to Right: Dr. Vicente Figueiredo, Mr. António José Augusto "Tony N'guxi" , SADC Executive Secretary, Dr. Tax and Thami Maswanganyi
