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Showbiz Reporter
Female Creatives in Southern Africa have called on governments in the region to establish quotas for women in the sector, provide safe working spaces and support their works to encourage productivity and boost creativity in the post Covid-19 era.

Speaking during a Unesco ResiliArt debate organised by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ), Zimbabwe Music Crossroads director Melody Zambuko said governments should establish quota systems for women when providing assistance or opportunities for artistes as is the case in politics where a gender quota system allows for 30 percent of females to take up leadership positions.

“The unequal access to opportunities is quite clear. The working space needs to be levelled as women are the multi-taskers of our society. You will remember that long before Covid-19, women were marginalised in the workspace. Regardless of occupying the same position at work, the female officer earned less than their male counterparts,” Zambuko said. Media personality, Patience Phiri said the Covid-19 period had extended the gap between male and female artists.

“What we need as women, is for the Government to invest in us. We want to say to the Government, please love us, please pay us, please give us safe platforms and can we please be treated equally to your boy children that you love so dearly. If you invest in us, we will make you so proud,” Phiri said.

Ernestine Deane, the founder of the Trade Union for Musicians of South Africa (Tumsa) said many female artists have found themselves in a prolonged situation of unemployment as the arts, culture and tourism sectors were the first to be affected by the Covid-19 lockdown measures. “We call upon governments to issue as a matter of urgency, any available relief funds. The government needs to quickly identify the different needs of the various communities that make up the creatives sector and support each community with its desired needs.”

Tapiwa Langa from Mozambique said female artists in the region were feeling left out of government programmes, but were afraid to speak out.