Cultural expert Dr Sipho Sithole has expressed dissatisfaction with newly-appointed Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie’s publishing of a list of thousands of artists and industry stakeholders who were beneficiaries from government Covid-19 relief funds.
Earlier this week, IOL reported that McKenzie had instructed his department to release the list, after learning that artists were complaining about government not funding them.
In an interview with broadcaster Newzroom Afrika on Friday morning, the isiZulu lecturer at Howard University in the US, said if he was a beneficiary, he would dump the money at the department’s offices in Pretoria.
“Firstly, if I were them, I would go and get all that money in cash put it in a wheelbarrow, pull the wheelbarrow to Madiba Street in Pretoria and just put that money there on the doorsteps of the department and say take it, you have insulted us enough,” said Sithole.
“Today is 14 days before the biggest sporting event which is the Olympics in Paris. If you were to ask South Africans how many sporting codes are represented in Paris, and how many athletes are going there, no one would even know.
“If you ask, do you know whose name was published by this department, each one would probably tell you not less than 10 people. That is basically the public narrative in South Africa by a department that should be focused on much bigger things than the list,” he said.
Sithole said the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has the biggest mandate in democratic South Africa.
“It is supposed to unite South Africans. It is supposed to carry the heart and soul of this nation. It is supposed to advance this healing process that we have been embarking on since 30 years ago. It has now been reduced to a department of publishing. It publishes lists of who got money, who didn’t get money. That is how sad this situation is,” he said.
On Wednesday, IOL reported that BET award-winning songstress Makhadzi, who recently opened up about a lack of support from government for her recent trip to the US, bagged over R230,000 in performance fees from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture in the past 14 months.
This was revealed by the sports department after McKenzie ordered that artists, sports stars and creatives who received funding from the department be named publicly, with the reasons and the amounts thereof.
Makhadzi was the first artist to be named on Tuesday night.
Sithole said by publishing the names, McKenzie was “making a mockery” of people who, during very difficult circumstances of Covid-19, we approached by the government with aid.
“If you ask this minister, in the week or so that you have been here, what have you done, he would say he rolled up his sleeves, hit the ground running by publishing the list. Is it a list of criminals? What did they do, these artists, did they do anything wrong?
“He has shamed artists. That is why I was saying, if I were them, I would take this money and say have it, it’s yours, you have shamed us enough,” said Sithole.
The academic said President Cyril Ramaphosa has made “a grave mistake” by appointing McKenzie to this critical department.
“I hope President Ramaphosa will realise he has made a grave mistake by appointing someone who is easily excitable and loses this transformation trajectory that we are talking about,” said Sithole.
He said the minister should instead be familiarising himself with his department and its vast mandate.
IOL