Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Veronica van Dyk MP.
The DA has requested the office of the Public Protector to investigate the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the National Arts Council (NAC) and the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra (NPO).
The MOA includes the Surplus Funds Policy, which the Public Protector found “amounts to improper conduct in state affairs” as envisaged by the Constitution and maladministration under the Public Protector Act. The Policy was also misaligned with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA), National Treasury Regulations and the Public Service Regulations.
Recently, the NAC has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Between the hiring and firing of senior management, the opacity surrounding the NPO, the mismanagement of the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP) during the Covid-19 pandemic and now allegations that R65 million were transferred to the NAC’s account at the South African Reserve Bank in lieu of funding artists, the NAC seems unable to fully grasp the needs of the arts and culture sector to implement solutions that benefit those communities.
The DA has submitted a host of parliamentary questions regarding the NPO and has called for the NAC, the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, and Mzansi NPO CEO Bongani Tembe to appear before the parliamentary portfolio committee on sports, arts and culture.
Good governance of public funds is crucial to economic growth and job creation in the arts and culture sectors. The DA will continue to do everything in our power to get accountability on NAC spending.