McKenzie dissolves the National Arts Council board, but its woes are far from over, it seems

This is because there is a pending case at the High Court of South Africa (Southern Gauteng) whose Heads of Argument was filed by the South African Roadies Association (SARA) prior to the announcement of the dissolution of the board by Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie this week.

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

The creative and cultural sector woke up on Tuesday, May 25, to the news that Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie, had dissolved the National Arts Council board. The dissolution came in the middle of a long dragging dispute between management and staff, aggrieved that their staff bonus, promised to them in 2021 by the previous board, had not been resolved by 2026. The aggrieved staff stayed away from work as they embarked on a protected strike outside the NAC offices in Newtown for weeks. The protest was endorsed by their union National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehau), and it triggered panic among the creative as artists got worried that if it dragged longer, it was going to affect the disbursement of funds to qualifying projects for the NAC annual project funding. The process to make payments was in progress at the time.

McKenzie then called a meeting with the NAC board, where he reportedly read them the riot act, giving the board a deadline to solve the issues, including getting the staff to go back to work, and paying them the promised bonus. Or else he was going to axe the board.

The staff indeed went back to work, but the contested bonus payment remained elusive, reportedly forcing McKenzie to axe the board as he had threatened.

In his statement announcing his decision about the fate of the board, McKenzie added other issues as the reason for the decision to dissolve the NAC board, such as lack of a tight governance framework at the arts funding institution.

“The National Arts Council exists to serve the arts sector and the people of South Africa. It cannot fulfil that mandate while its governance is consumed by a dispute of this nature. I gave the Council ample opportunity and a clear framework to resolve this matter. That opportunity was not taken. I have therefore exercised my authority under the Act and dissolved the Council with immediate effect,” McKenzie said in his statement.

Ironically though, the NAC subsequently released its own statement accepting the dissolution of its own board by the Minister, and so did the generality of the creative sector who since the launching of the stay away picket by the staff, some artists have been protesting with them outside the NAC offices.

This is not the first time that the NAC has faced a similar crisis forcing the Executive Authority to act by dissolving the board in order to restore the NAC’s integrity, stability and quash uncertainty by the creative sector surrounding the disbursement of funds aimed at benefiting them By government.

The first time the NAC board was axed since its inception, was 21 years ago, when then Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan took a similar decision and dissolved the NAC board which he deemed dysfunctional.

The Issues facing the NAC are not over as it looks like the court will have to make a determination about various issues regarding how the NAC board is appointed in future.

However SARA confirmed to CITYLIFE/ARTS that it is going ahead with the case before the High Court as its case, it said, goes beyond the dissolution of the board.

“The matter is in the hands of the High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria) Case No: 2024-057280.  SARA Attorneys has already filled the heads of argument (including practice note, list of authorities and chronology) with the Register of the High Court on 20 May 2026, and served the State Attorney-Pretoria (representing the Minister and the MEC’s) and the NAC Attorneys on the 21 May 2026.

The violation of the National Arts Council Act No: 56 of 1997 (as amended) by the Minister and the provincial MEC’s strikes at the heart of constitutional legality and undermines the statutory framework designed to safeguard transparent, accountable, and lawful governance in the arts sector. It will be in the best interest of the public and the arts sector, for the Honourable Court to intervene to safeguard the appointment process of the new council is in strict compliance with these crucial sections  4(2) and 4(6)(b) of the Act, which provides as  follows:

Section 4 (2) “Every province shall be represented by a representative who shall within the province in question be elected by a public and transparent process which shall be determined and overseen by the responsible member.”

Section 4(6) (b) “At the end of the members” term of office, three members who are not provincial representatives shall be re-elected by the council to serve for a further three years, after which they shall not be eligible for reappointment until a further three years have elapsed.”

Unless the Honourable Court intervenes, the cycle of illegality in the appointment of the Council will continue unabated, further eroding the principles of legality and accountability enshrined in the Constitution,” a statement released by SARA and signed by its President Freddie Nyathela, Yesterday, May 28, 2026 reads.

The Court is yet to set a date for the case’s hearing.

But their issues embroiled the board seems not to be over. Not really, because the Newtown based Non-Profit organization South African Roadies’ Association is going ahead with its court application filed with the High Court last year, seeking the dissolution of the board, arguing that the provincial representatives portion of the NAC board were not properly appointed, rendering the whole board irregularly sitting.

Freddie Nyathela the President of SARA told CITYLIFE/ARTs this week that in fact, the organization filed the Heads of Argument with the High Court on May, 20, 2026, a few days before McKenzie announced the dissolution of the board.

Named as Respondents in the SARA case are McKenzie, The Members of the Executive Council (MECs) for arts and Culture in all the nine provinces and the NAC.