Intwasa property up for auction
INTWASA Arts Festival koBulawayo’s property was last Friday set to be auctioned for a song, as it recently emerged that the festival owed almost the tune of $2 000 in rental arrears.
Festival director Raisedon Baya confirmed that the Sheriff had paid a visit to their offices housed at Treger House and had attached property worth thousands of dollars to settle the debt.
Property attached included a Hisense Fridge, Filling Cabinet, 16 plastic chairs, 2 office desks, 7 office chairs and an HP printer.
Baya said the reason for the failure to pay rent was because some of their funders hadn’t given them funds.
“We have rental arrears. The actual amount we owe is about $1 700 but it has since ballooned to $2 900. Our property was attached last week by the sheriff ’s office. We have been in arrears since July this year,” said Baya.
He however, noted that Intwasa was not a profit making entity and therefore relied on various projects to generate money.
“We are not a profit making entity and we rely on projects to make money. Basically we have funders that assist us but since February this year one of our partners and funders — Hivos has not been able to fund us due to some issues and that is when we encountered this problem,” said Baya. He added that their objective now was to try and settle the debt and replace the attached property. Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo is a Zimbabwean multi-discipline festival showcasing African aesthetics and cultural expressions. The one-week festival takes place in several spaces within the city of Bulawayo. To date Intwasa has hosted regional and international artistes from Botswana, Swaziland, South Africa, United States of America, UK, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Kenya Denmark, Italy, Malawi, Belgium, Wales and Zambia. Intwasa is an IsiNdebele word meaning spring. The festival is held every September. The month is very significant in that it marks the beginning of spring; a time when a lot of activities are done. Spring is the season of regeneration and rebirth. A season for new beginnings and new life.