Cape Town - Officials from the provincial Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport have intervened to see if they can help sort out the ongoing disputes at the Cape Town City Ballet (CTCB) between the board and its former chief executive, Debbie Turner, who resigned in April.
Turner’s resignation followed a number of allegations by some members of the board that she was guilty of poor financial administration.
MEC Anroux Marais said she and officials from the department have had meetings with the CTCB in a bid “to understand the challenges and how the department could possibly assist”.
This engagement comes on top of other efforts, including a meeting convened by the board of the Cape Town City Ballet Endowment Trust, with the CTCB board that was called to work towards finding a solution to the crisis at the company.
Marais said the CTCB had set out what the internal challenges were and had informed the department of the steps they were taking to resolve the challenges.
“The department is satisfied with the efforts being made and we will continue to engage and monitor the progress to ensure that the matter is resolved in such a way that the focus remains on the artists and audiences.”
Marais said the department had also offered guidance on the requirements for government-funded support to assist the organisation in ensuring that they can still apply for this support.
“We will support the Cape Town Ballet in any way that we are able to, within our mandate, to ensure that the artists can perform and planned productions will still take place.
“This art form is an important part of Cape Town’s cultural landscape and we must ensure that our artists do not lose any opportunities to showcase their talents to the wide range of audiences that are drawn to these performances.”
In a statement, the CTCB dancers said they were “dismayed” by the dispute between Turner and the board.
“We are concerned that this dispute has the potential to jeopardise the efficient functioning and operations of CTCB.”
The dancers said that although they were not privy to the details of the dispute, they acknowledged and were in full support of mediation efforts.
The CTCB did not respond to queries from the Cape Argus.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za