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Ingwebu plant premises

Andile Tshuma, Showbiz Reporter
THE home of the royal traditional brew, Ingwebu Breweries, has launched an annual dance competition to try and revive the dance culture in the southern region.

The first competition for Matabeleland South is on today at Ezimnyama Beer Garden in Gwanda with over 10 groups set to battle it out. The top three will receive cash prizes and secure slots to contest at the regional final.

Dates for competitions for Midlands, Bulawayo and Matabeleland North are yet to be set though the final is expected to take place in the next six weeks.

The head of marketing, research and development at Ingwebu Breweries, Sindani Mathafeni Khumalo, said plans were underway to make the dance competition a national event.

“The idea is to have the Ingwebu royal competitions in all our 10 provinces, but we currently don’t have the capacity to do so as we’re financially incapacitated.

“For now, we want to get the dance train going and once it gains momentum, we’ll be able to hold it in the other six provinces and hold national competitions,” said Khumalo.

He said their aim was to empower dance ensembles from the grassroots.

“Our main target is not the established dance groups, but we want to help in uplifting the underdogs and put them on the map. We’re going to the communities as we want all that hidden talent to be showcased.

“We believe that every community has something to offer, but some very talented people are not getting the opportunities to show their skill, hence why we’re rolling out this platform,” said Khumalo.

He said their organisation was involved in initiatives that promote the preservation of culture in the country, which is being threatened by westernisation.

“We’re the only royal company and we want to take up our mandate to contribute towards the preservation of culture. We believe that this can be achieved through the celebration of one aspect of our culture, which is dance.”

Also, Khumalo said, they hope to bring life to Gwanda as they expect a huge turn out since their brand is quite popular there. Other than the dance competition, revellers will be treated to quality entertainment among other activities that have been lined up for the day. “Gwanda is a town with loving and warm hearted people. They’re fun loving and outgoing.

“We’re inviting the public to come and celebrate with us as we’ll be celebrating culture and drinking our royal beer,” he said. — @andile_tshuma