Newly appointed National Arts Council provincial representatives’ ‘contracts terminated’?
Also, restlessness has started picking up among the country’s creative and cultural sector as the NAC this year is yet to issue out a call for funding for arts projects, risking the issue of artists failing to participate at major annual festivals, for example the National Arts Festival in Makhanda June 26-July 6, 2025.
By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor
The National Arts Council of South Africa (NAC) has been plunged into yet another situation of ambiguity regarding the composition and the appointment of the Council, which governs the state arts funding agency.
This follows the recent appointment of the new Council on January 1, 2025, by Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie and alleged sudden termination of contracts of the members of the Council representing the provinces barely three months after receiving their appointment letters. CITYLIFE/ARTs sources close to the situation have told the publication.
As per the National Arts Council Act of 1997, the NAC Council (Board) must be constituted, by nine Council Members nominated by the public and appointed by the Minister to serve on the council, and nine other council members representing the country’s nine provinces elected through a public and transparent process, who are then appointed by the Minister to sit on the council.
CITYLIFE/ARTS has however learned that the nine members of the Council representing the provinces have since lost their seat on the Council as their contracts have allegedly been terminated.
The circumstances and the reasons for the alleged sudden termination of the contracts of the Council members barely three after their appointment are not clear.
On the website of the NAC, out of the 24 members that were appointed in January only the names of 16 members remain, raising the question of whether or not, the Council can make decisions that do not risk being challenged legally.
CITYLIFE/ARTS approached the NAC for comment, asking four questions to the Interim Chief Executive Officer Julie Diphofa who in turn referred the questions to the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC).
“Having gone through the questions, I think it will be best to refer you to DSAC. The Department is best placed to respond to you since it is the Minister who appoints and terminates Council members,” Diphofa said.
CITYLIFE/ARTS had asked the following questions:
“It has come to CITYLIFE/ARTS’ attention that the provincial representatives on the National Arts Council (Board)’s contracts have been terminated, having been appointed by the Minister in January 2025. This inquiry is in relation to an article we are going to publish on this development.
Please can you assist by answering the following questions: 1. Can you confirm the termination of the Council members identified above. 2.When was the termination effected? 3. Why was the termination necessary? 4. When will the Minister appoint new Provincial Council members to replace those whose contracts have been terminated.
However, CITYLIFE/ARTS had at the same time, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, already sent the same questions to the Minister’s Spokesperson Stacey Khojane and DSAC’s Head of Marketing and Communications Zimasi Velaphi. We made a follow up to both Velaphi and Khojane on Thursday, April 24, 2025, as our deadline approached. Both had not responded to both our initial inquiry and follow up before publication.
The 16 members who appear on the NAC website as Council Members are as follows: Zac Gordon, Stephanie D’Silva, Tracey Perumal, Omphemetse Mokgosi, Pamela Ndlovu, Haroon Gun-Salie, Tau Masemola, Clint Brink, Siphosethu Mtamzeli, Wandile Kasibe, Laura de Harde, Charne-Lee Adams-Kruger, Bongani Tembe, Simon Clarke, Eugene Botha (Chairperson) and HRH Princess Celenhle Dlamini (Deputy Chairperson).
Also, restlessness has started picking up among the country’s creative and cultural sector as the NAC this year is yet to issue out a call for funding for arts projects, risking the issue of artists failing to participate at major annual festivals, for example the annual National Arts Festival in Makhanda, which this year will take place from June 26, 2025 to July 6, 2025. A huge number of artists especially those participating on the Fringe component of the National Arts Festival rely on funding from the NAC’s annual call for funding for their participation.
CITYLIFE/ARTS contacted Diphofa on the issue of the delay and she told this publication the following:
“Following the appointment of the new Council, whose term officially commenced on the 1st of January 2025, the Council needed to convene and establish the relevant committees/structures that perform oversight on the NAC funding programmes. The processes to establish these committees / structures are currently underway and should be finalised shortly. The NAC expects to issue the financial year 2025/26 funding calls immediately thereafter.”
Some in the creative sector are already raising fears that even if the call was made today, the process of accessing the applications, approvals and processing payments would not be in time to enable artists to participate at the National Arts Festival.
The issue of the delay to issue the call is starting to rattle some in the sector.
“Does anyone know why the NAC has not opened a call for proposals. Last year this time we already had feedback. And when I contact them, I get vague responses,” wrote Arthur Feder on Facebook.