Sara House in Newtown now a safe and secure space for an African child after renovations

The building is now fully functional after the renovations spearheaded by the Development Bank of Southern Africa and funded by the Department of Sport Arts and Culture to the tune of R26 million.

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

The African child can now be happy to know that they can now learn in a safe and secure environment. This was the message that ran through the thread of the speeches delivered by Fredy Nyathela,  President of the South African Roadies Association (SARA) and Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa on Thursday, February 17m 2022 in Newtwon.

These speeches were made during the momentous occasion of the ceremonial handover of Sara House  n Newtown, by The Development Bank of Southern Africa to the Department of Arts and Culture,  which in turn handed over the building to Sara management  after one year of renovation, that finished on time and within the 26 million budget. Where there was an unsightly building badly needing renovation, stands, an almost new, clean and state of the art building that stands out among others in this area.

DSAC are the funders of the extensive renovations and the restoration of this once dilapidated building into a new state of the art building. Mthethwa said that the Department shared the same vision as Sara when it comes to training especially the youth in technical production skills and therefore government supported the renovations financially.

“When we talk about reindustrialisation of the economy, after the devastation of Covid-19, it cannot happen without the issue of technical skills being factored in.

“And so when the Director General (Vusimuzi Mkhize) was appointed, I asked him to meet with Freddy because I believed that there were  some misunderstandings between the Department and Freddy, but the vision of  training the youth in technical production skills is a vision that I also share.

“We will continue supporting what Sara is doing, and we hope and trust that Sara will look after this building.  The training that is happening here is not offered by a bush college as the courses are accredited by the relevant Seta (Sector Education and Training Authority) to South African Qualification Authority level 4,

Mthethwa came to the launch with a strong team from DSAC that included director Collen Hlatshwayo, Deputy Director General Stella Khumalo and Director General Mkhize.

A visibly emotional Nyathela thanked DSAC, the DBSA and the contractors for working closely with Sara management during the past 12 months when renovations took place, as well as the Office of the Public Protector for facilitating a dispute between DSAC and Sara over funding for the renovations.

“Now an African child can be happy that they can learn in a safe secure environment. This is what we had been wanting for many years,” Nyathela said.

However the journey to here was a rocky one, and the relationship between DSAC and Sara President and founder Nyathela for years has been frosty with raging battles over issues of funding for Sara and its programmes. The funding of Sara House’s renovations was also a subject of a long drawn out disagreement between DSAC, punctuated by threats of litigation till the Public Protector moved in and facilitated a settlement between the two parties. Nyathela went as far as making a presentation to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture over his raging battles with DSAC over issues of funding.

But at the hand over ceremony yesterday, also attended by top executives from DBSA led by Its Group Chief Executive Officer C Ramphele, a peace pipe between the DAC and Sara seemed to have been smoked. It did not look like these were parties which for years were involved in raging and brutal battles over the issue of funding, sometimes playing themselves out  on social media platforms.

“I spoke to veteran musician Sipho Mabuse, who told me that he had known Freddy when he was tiny as he worked with Harari learning the technical production skills by himself through trial and error until he graduated by default.  What must have stuck with him then was to one day own the technical equipment that he worked with during that time and hence he founded this training academy. But Sipho Mabuse also told me something else about Freddy, and that is that Une nkani (he is stubborn),” Mthethwa joked.

In a separate interview with CITYLIFE/ARTS Nyathela seemed to confirm that he had buried the hatchet with DSAC.

“My style is that I never look through a rear mirror, preferring to look forward into the future and not backwards.

“I appreciate the support because in the past the problem was that all the people we fought with for support tended to personalise everything, reducing whatever disagreements to an individual, Freddy, instead of looking at those issues in the broad context of Sara and the African child. For us it has always been about the African child and their future,” he said.

But where from here for Sara?

“We appreciate the support that we are now getting, for all these years Sara managed to survive only through the support of overseas people and not our own. Now we will, continue doing what we have always been doing here, which is giving an African child training in technical production skills, for these are the skills of the future,” he said.

After these renovations, Sara House which was built in1934, is not only safe and secure, but also the 1500 Square Metre building can be used at 100 percent capacity, whereas before it was used up to only 40 percent of its capacity.

In fact the building looks squeaky clean, inviting and could easily give newly built buildings in Sandton a good run for their money with regards to its appeal. It is a stand out building among mostly shabby looking buildings in its vicinity in Newtown on Henry Nxumalo Street.

Indeed an African child can learn in a safe and secure environment in the renovated and restored Sara House.