African proverb teaches us that “as the music changes, so does the dance”.
Newly appointed arts and culture minister, Gayton McKenzie, has raffled feathers to the vexation of creative sector covetous gatekeepers who’re crying foul over the changes the minister brings.
The ANC Youth League also entered the fray with its lame rhetorical statement. Some ideologue practitioners scurried to display their decorated artistic credentials on social media just to be first on the line at the minister’s office door.
Instead of the sector stakeholders uniting to formulate a collective position on GNU’s ministry of sport, arts and culture appointments, it has since become a slippery individuals’ rat race to the dinner table with the new minister. In the past 30 years, this ministry was predominantly led by ANC ministers without it attracting any special attention from the public. It is not regarded as significant like education and health, irrespective of the creative sector billions contribution to the economy.
Now, with McKenzie of the Patriotic Alliance, pulling the strings, it seems the likes of Pallo Jordan, Lulu Xingwana, Paul Mashatile, Nathi Mthetwa and Zizi Kodwa were just on the throne to collect monthly cheques. Their legacies are contentious, to say the least. As far as I can tell, for 30 years selected artists, music groups and promoters benefited immensely from the ministry. It’s ironic today some who regard themselves as royal connoisseurs of arts, are up in arms yet for years they gave credence to the suppression of creatives voice under ANC ministers.
It’ll be hypocritical of us to forget the bravery of artists who for years spoke against the sector mismanagement, nepotism and other ills of the department. The new minister should be cheered for his transparency on the Covid-19 relief fund payouts. He should cast the net wider over the beneficiary list of 2010 Soccer World Cup.
The budget worth millions was allocated to the creative sector under former minister Lulu Xingwana. To this day, some practitioners who submitted proposals are still daydreaming about positive results. Needless to say, the revelations of department shenanigans will indicate whether previous ministers allowed the corruption rot to run too deep within the sports, arts and culture department.
Jerry Tsie, Pretoria
READER LETTER | McKenzie succeeding where predecessors failed to do
Image: Supplied
African proverb teaches us that “as the music changes, so does the dance”.
Newly appointed arts and culture minister, Gayton McKenzie, has raffled feathers to the vexation of creative sector covetous gatekeepers who’re crying foul over the changes the minister brings.
The ANC Youth League also entered the fray with its lame rhetorical statement. Some ideologue practitioners scurried to display their decorated artistic credentials on social media just to be first on the line at the minister’s office door.
Instead of the sector stakeholders uniting to formulate a collective position on GNU’s ministry of sport, arts and culture appointments, it has since become a slippery individuals’ rat race to the dinner table with the new minister. In the past 30 years, this ministry was predominantly led by ANC ministers without it attracting any special attention from the public. It is not regarded as significant like education and health, irrespective of the creative sector billions contribution to the economy.
Now, with McKenzie of the Patriotic Alliance, pulling the strings, it seems the likes of Pallo Jordan, Lulu Xingwana, Paul Mashatile, Nathi Mthetwa and Zizi Kodwa were just on the throne to collect monthly cheques. Their legacies are contentious, to say the least. As far as I can tell, for 30 years selected artists, music groups and promoters benefited immensely from the ministry. It’s ironic today some who regard themselves as royal connoisseurs of arts, are up in arms yet for years they gave credence to the suppression of creatives voice under ANC ministers.
It’ll be hypocritical of us to forget the bravery of artists who for years spoke against the sector mismanagement, nepotism and other ills of the department. The new minister should be cheered for his transparency on the Covid-19 relief fund payouts. He should cast the net wider over the beneficiary list of 2010 Soccer World Cup.
The budget worth millions was allocated to the creative sector under former minister Lulu Xingwana. To this day, some practitioners who submitted proposals are still daydreaming about positive results. Needless to say, the revelations of department shenanigans will indicate whether previous ministers allowed the corruption rot to run too deep within the sports, arts and culture department.
Jerry Tsie, Pretoria
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