JOHANNESBURG – The Johannesburg Department of Tourism along with MTV Base announced on Tuesday their collaboration for the MTV Base Africa Music Awards (MAMAs).
The MAMAs are scheduled to take place at the Ticket Pro Dome on October 22, 2016. The event celebrates and honours artists from across the continent.
“The MAMAS award show is something we want to take all over the continent. We met with Joburg Tourism to see how can we bring it to Johannesburg and celebrate African tourism. The City and youth culture is amazing and the time is perfect to bring them to the City of Gold,” said Dillion Khan, Senior Creative director of Viacom.
Various South African artists including Absolut brand ambassador Khuli Chana, Nasty C and 999 boss Arthur Mafukate attended the announcement event.
This year would be the sixth edition of the MAMAs, which has been to Durban for the past three years after being in Nigeria for the first three years.
Vice president BET Youth and Music VIMN Africa Monde Twala said that he felt the continent united via music.
There would be workshops that would allow up and coming artists to interact with bigger artists in the scene, Twala said.
Head of Johannesburg Tourism Nabintu Petsana said the event would bring people to Johannesburg destinations and “through the event the city will be exposed.”
She said that Johannesburg was a city of leisure, art and entertainment.
“Education, health and shopping are our tourism interest. It’s our responsibility to promote economic growth. Artists make a living from performing, so by partnering with such an event, their earning increases,” Petsana said.
She added that more than 75 percent of Johannesburg’s tourists were from other parts of the continent. “We want to reach out to other African countries and tell our story.”
Petsana said that Johannesburg was the most visited African city and through the partnerships, the Department would maintain its reputation.
Absolut Vodka which would be collaborating with MTV Base and the City of Johannesburg said their theme for this year was to show that creativity comes from Africa. Absolut Vodka also said that they aimed to promote collaboration following the xenophobic attacks earlier this year and encouraged people to put an end to xenophobia.
“For the first time ever the artist will play the executive producer of their album,” said Absolut Vodka representative Melanie Campbell.
– African News Agency
