Note to Editors: Please see attached soundbite by Leah Potgieter MP
Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has turned his back on South African athletes and artists, all while claiming to support them.
Festivals across the country, including the KKNK, Woordfees, Suidoosterfees, Aardklop, Innibos, the Vrystaat Kunstefees and the National Arts Festival, were publicly promised support by Minister McKenzie. Yet, after existing funding streams were withdrawn, these festivals were told by the Minister himself to apply for the Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) fund, only to have their applications rejected.
Established festivals with proven job-creation records have been left in financial crisis with little to no warning.
To make matters worse, Minister McKenzie stacked the MGE adjudication panel with active Patriotic Alliance members, including his party’s national spokesperson, and contact point for festival funding queries. This is a serious conflict of interest and political patronage.
Transparency is equally absent in MGE funding allocations. Where companies could be identified, many were deregistered or in the process. This points to a system that is not only poorly managed but potentially compromised to benefit politically connected individuals.
The Department’s own CFO allegedly misled the Portfolio Committee. When asked whether funding had been reallocated, he initially claimed not. Only under questioning on the controversial VAR (Video Assistant Referee System) allocation, which was not part of the original budget, did he admit to authorising reallocations, without explaining how, under what authority or why Parliament and the public were not informed.
The DA therefore calls on Minister McKenzie to:
• Reinstate funding support for established festivals with proven economic and social impact, such as the Suidoosterfees, Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Cape Town Carnival and Open Book Festival.
• Publish full details of all MGE allocations, including the names, registration status and compliance history of successful applicants.
• Institute a transparent, depoliticised adjudication process that excludes political party members from funding panels and requires full disclosure of all affiliations.
• Provide Parliament with a complete report on budget reallocations, including those diverted to the unplanned VAR project, and clarifying the legal authority under which these decisions were made.
• Develop a credible long-term strategy for the arts, culture and sports sectors that prioritises job creation, fairness and sustainability over political patronage.
South Africans are tired of empty promises. Minister McKenzie’s record is one of grand announcements and little delivery.
McKenzie has denied fair opportunities. He is creating his own personal patronage network to reward allies, ignoring fairness and transparency, and in the process is compromising the very industries and associations he is supposed to be supporting.
The DA will continue using every parliamentary mechanism to demand accountability and ensure the arts, culture and sports sectors receive the transparent, depoliticised support they deserve.