Parliament summons Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie and his deputy to appear before Parliament over no show by senior officials of the Department

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

A showdown seems to be looming between the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Sport, Arts and Culture over no appearance of senior officials to scheduled meetings with the Parliamentarians.

This follows what appears to be an emerging pattern off senior officials of DSAC, including its Acting Director-General Dr. Cynthia Khumalo not attending key scheduled meetings with the Members of the Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture to account on the department’s performance, including the use of its budget for arts development and promotion in the creative and cultural sector.

CITYLIFE/ARTS can reveal that senior officials of DSAC, particularly Khumalo, who has been acting on several occasions on this key position in the department have in the past four weeks, missed scheduled meetings with the Committee. Instead, other officials from the Department were sent there, a pattern that angered Committee Members as they found this arrangement to be unsatisfactory, resulting in certain issues Parliament wanted answers to from the accounting officer not adequately addressed.

This publication understands that the no show of relevant accounting officers of the department has frustrated the efforts of Parliament to get accountability from DSAC that the Committee in fact yesterday October 23, 2024, a penned a letter to Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie and his Deputy Peace Mabe to come to Parliament on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, to explain the absence of especially Khumalo and the department’s Chief Financial officer to these key meetings. We were, however, unable to confirm officially whether indeed such a later has been sent. However a media statement subsequently released by the Portfolio Committee on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, explicitly confirmed that indeed that is the case.

“The Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts, and Culture has voice dissatisfaction with the non-appearance of government officials at critical meetings with the committee that seek to oversee financial expenditure and performance.

The committee dispatched a letter today for the Minister’s attention alerting the ministry to the non-cooperation of senior officials.

The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Joe McGluwa, said the committee is not about to negotiate with officials on how they want to be held to account. “This is very serious and happening for the third time now. If it is not the non-appearance of officials, it is poorly prepared presentations that lack financial performance reporting,”Mr McGluwa said.
“This is against the spirit and principle of the three arms of the state. Nothing will ever be derived through undermining parliamentary oversight. At the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture we want responsive employees who are able to assist entities in their responsibility of service delivery to poor South Africans,” Mr McGluwa said.
On Tuesday, the department’s Acting Director-General and Chief Financial Officer did not appear for a scheduled parliamentary meeting to discuss the department’s annual report. The departmental officials who did attend the meeting were unable to provide answers to the questions asked by Members of Parliament.
Mr McGluwa said the costs associated with the Tuesday’s meeting were a wasteful expenditure that should not to have happened. This was also not the first time the department had failed to fully engage with the committee.
“The committee will not tolerate repeated disregard for its oversight role. In this case, the absence of key officials prevented the committee from obtaining the necessary information on the department’s financials and programmes. As a consequence, the committee made the decision to release the officials who were in attendance, as their inability to address these critical areas rendered the meeting unproductive,” the Chairperson said.
The committee resolved to invite the Minister and other relevant officials to a rescheduled meeting next Tuesday (October, 29, 2024),” seen by CITYLIFE/ARTS reads.

CITYLIFE/ARTS here publishes the chronology of events leading to this apparent distance of the necessary relationship between  DSAC and the Portfolio Committee that has developed in recent weeks.

.23 October 2024: The Portfolio Committee Chairperson pens a letter summons the Minister and Deputy Minister as well as the Acting Director-General to appear before the Portfolio Committee on October 29, 2024 to explain the absence the Chief Financial Officer and the Acting Director-General at scheduled meetings with Members of the Portfolio Committee.

.22 October 2024: Department of Sport, Arts and Culture 2023/24 Annual Report: The portfolio Committee again was not happy that the Acting Director-General and the Chief Financial Officer did not show up to present the report

.18 October 2024: SAIDS, Basketball SA & New Love Life 2023/24 Annual Reports: The Portfolio Committee registers its unhappiness about the fact that the Acting Director-General Dr. Cynthia Khumalo as the accounting officer of the Department was not in attendance to answer questions and present the report in person. .20 September 2024: Department of Sport, Arts and Culture 2024/25 1st Quarter PerformanceThe committee dissatisfied with the presentation of the report by DSAC officials sends them back to the drawing board.

The minister has been summoned to appear before the Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture on Tuesday next week to explain the absence of senior Government officials before the Committee this week where junior officials could not present the 2023/24 Annual Report. The committee instead sent them home.