The Democratic Alliance (DA) strongly opposes the decision by the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, to not re-open the application process for artists and athletes to access relief funding to alleviate the calamitous impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on their livelihood.
Instead of re-opening the application period to allow for a fair and equal opportunity for all artists to apply for relief, a decision was made to rather reassess applications which were declined.
It should not be a surprise at this point of the lockdown to be let down by a Government that pretends to care for its people. The DA had higher hopes for Minister Mthethwa and his Department and is disappointed that the process for applications will not be re-opened for those who missed the deadline.
The Department is punishing artists, who did not submit their applications in time, for the shortcomings of its own system that failed to handle all the incoming applications. The fact that the Department received thousands of applications in an unreasonably short amount of time during the initial extension (2-6 April; 3 working days) shows the desperation of those in the Sports, Arts and Culture industries. Many artists do not earn a steady income, and like many South Africans simply do not have the funds to sustain themselves in the long term. They are in desperate need of relief funding from the Department.
Those 6000 applications are barely scraping the surface of artists that need assistance. Many more did not have access to the resources during the lockdown period to apply for aid, and now the Department is refusing them the smallest hope of relief.
The initial application process was marred with challenges. The DA received numerous complaints about the confusion over different versions of the application forms, the fact that the forms were not user friendly, and the Department’s lack of response to those in need of assistance and its refusal to share information.
The DA repeats its request that the Minister make public the criteria used by the adjudication panel to review the application. It should also provide the names of the appeal panelists.
The Department also seems confused about the amount of total applications received. Earlier it was 6000, but now it claims to only have 4011. The Department needs be transparent about why certain applications were rejected.
While the DA applauds the fact that unsuccessful applicants will be assisted with a second chance, we implore the Minister to not close his eyes to the needs of those artists who were unable to submit applications in time, largely due to the ineptitude of his Department. The original application process could only be judged as fair if it was more user friendly and accessible, and if artists had a reasonable amount of time to apply. As it stands, this is an utter travesty.
The Minister should definitely assist those artists that were lucky enough to apply in time. He should also assist those excluded by his inadequate system.