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LUTFO LONGEST-SERVING SWAMA PRESIDENT

By SIMANGA GAMEDZE | 2024-04-25

SWAMA President and former member of parliament Lutfo Dlamini has been at the helm of Eswatini music industry since 1997.

Dlamini remains Eswatini arts and music association’s longest serving president to date.
Dlamini said he had done justice for the entertainment industry since he started to serve the office over 20 years ago, although there were breaks in between since he has served as a member of parliament and a cabinet minister in some years.

He was at 1998, then in 2013 lost in the secondary stage, then bounced back to Parliament in 2018.

During his tenure, they have been able to give birth to some of the massive changes that are being enjoyed by artists today, including the formation of associations.

“I used to work with young and very energetic people, I was an artist even myself. There were no other music associations that time; the local government only recognised SWAMA. All the associations that you see today are a product of SWAMA,” he shared.

Their association was still under the ministry of home affairs.
Dlamini said it was an advantage to them as they were liaising straight with government, which made it possible for them to host big shows, such as the Trade Fair.

SWAMA was given a budget to plan the big shows; it was a much organised atmosphere. The environment was conducive as working lines were clear and simple.

“Everyone knew that if they wanted to engage government, they would do so through our association,” he said.

Dlamini what added more advantage to them was that they were given a room to work on their own accord. “The ministry was led by Maswazi Shongwe at that time, he was more to soccer than music, so he used to let us do things according to our way,” he added.

What is more interesting about the journey of Dlamini was that, they were the first association that hosted a big festival, dubbed ‘King’s Trust’.

According to Dlamini, this event was the biggest in Southern Africa.
“If you can recall very well, this was the biggest event the country has ever hosted before the MTN Bush Fire.

The King used to organise some of the biggest artists across the world, including Joan Armatrading, Eric Clapton and Jonathan Butler,” the president narrated. He also served in the King’s Trust committee.

Dlamini said the King’s Trust was the only concert to ever bring the whole of Southern Africa to fill up the Somhlolo National Stadium.

They were also the first association to partner with Sony Music, which was a company based in South Africa.

“I was the first guy to link up with the likes of Mthunzi Namba, we got them to agree to sponsor local artists and record them during that talent search initiative,” he said.
The first artists to win the talent search competition were called Irumba stars, a refugee camp band.

He said that did not sit well with a lot of Emaswati, as they felt this was a foreign group, yet when you are a registered refugee in the country, you enjoy all the benefits the country provides.
“We were blamed for crowning the band as the winners; however we were not intimidated as we knew that they have won on merit not by favour, they we singing a siswati song,” Dlamini said.

Irumba stars are the group that did the King’s birthday song titled ‘Khula Mlisa’, that is still a hit even in the new generation.

Dlamini said he saw changes taking place in the entertainment industry over the years. “All the groups that you see today were once under SWAMA, and that is a good thing,” he said.
Furthermore, the outgoing president has cautioned local associations that they can achieve more if they could approach government as a unit.

“Although we appreciate the different associations, but we need an umbrella body that will represent all the artists. In the committees, that are dealing with Copyrights acts, we also need a representative as artists,” he said.

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