Mthethwa to take action for ‘mismanagement’ of R300m arts stimulus

The minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa has vowed to bring the hammer down over the disbursement of the R300 million from the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme.

Mthethwa has clarified that the funds were not misspent, as initial reports had suggested. He said that the National Arts Council (NAC) had received the R300 million from a total of R665 million given by National Treasury in September 2020.

He said there had been complaints over the paying out of funds. The NAC failed to give the new Council a satisfactory explanation, which led to the distribution of funds being placed on hold, pending a legal process.

The Council then opted to axe its CEO Rosemary Mangope and CFO Clifton Changfoot pending an investigation into the “missing” funds.

“Subsequently, they discovered that budget as allocated was mismanaged by the NAC, mainly by way of an over-commitment of the available funds that were allocated to creative sector organisations, by more than double the allocated amount in their possession,” Mthethwa said.

“For instance, the NAC over-committed the funds that were allocated to artists by over double the allocated amount in their possession. This is the crux of the issue that we are faced with today. We will ensure that those who are responsible for this gross negligence are brought to book”

‘Missing R300m’ – Nathi Mthethwa to launch forensic investigation

According to Nathi Mthethwa, they have been knee-deep in efforts to get additional funds which would cover the shortfall created by the mismanagement of funds.

The minister has since sprung into action and will launch an investigation, with the hopes of finally getting to the bottom of the matter.

“To that extent, I have instructed the Department, working with the Council, to start a process of forensic investigation. We will continue to update the media and the sector accordingly,” Mthethwa said.

“As the Minister ultimately responsible for the successful rectification of this unacceptable dilemma, I firstly want to issue an unconditional apology for having being let down by an institution which I sincerely believed were up to the task. I entrusted the NAC to bring much-needed relief in such a desperate state of economic vulnerability, through the introduction of inevitable COVID-19 Lockdown”

Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa

The arts industry has been up in arms over the missing R300 million, which was meant to assist those struggling to make ends meet during the lockdown.