The Democratic Alliance condemns Minister Gayton McKenzie’s decision to overturn South Africa’s official Venice Biennale submission after a lawful, independent selection process had already been concluded.
This is not about the content of the artwork or the politics. It is about process.
Once an arms-length selection process has been completed, a minister has no authority to intervene because he dislikes the outcome. Any concerns about content, foreign policy implications or reputational risk should have been raised before the process concluded, not after.
Retroactive political interference fatally undermines the credibility of South Africa’s cultural institutions. If ministers are allowed to step in after the fact, no selection process is meaningful and no artistic platform is secure. Today it is artwork. Tomorrow it could be any issue, from any political direction.
The Minister claims this was an exercise of executive discretion. It was not. It was interference, plain and simple. It sets a dangerous precedent in which cultural expression becomes subject to political approval.
South Africa’s creative sector, like all sectors, relies on consistent application of rules, institutional independence and predictable governance. Arbitrary reversals damage our international reputation and deter partnerships, and further places already-vulnerable livelihoods in the creative sector at risk.
Democratic societies recognise and protect artistic expression as independent and free from political interference. Art functions as the conscience of a nation, giving voice to individual and collective realities that may be uncomfortable for those in power but as Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize shows, art isn’t about conformity, but the courage to express political and social truths through creative expression.
The Democratic Alliance will report Minister McKenzie to the Public Protector for acting beyond his lawful authority and undermining due process.
We call on the Minister to reverse this decision immediately and to respect the independence of South Africa’s constitutional values and cultural institutions.