Thami AkaMbongo Manzana: A creative practitioner’s plea for governance and dignity in South Africa’s arts sector.

The arts in South Africa are not dying; they are being suffocated – by bureaucratic neglect, policy manipulation, and a dangerous trend of self-appointment masquerading as sectoral leadership.

As a practitioner embedded in the fabric of this industry, I feel compelled to speak – not for applause, but for the survival of a sector whose heartbeat is weakening with every passing misstep.

The Promise of Change: McKenzie’s Rise and Our Hope

When Minister Gayton McKenzie took office, many in the creative sector exhaled in cautious hope. Here was a leader unafraid to call out corruption, a man of action promising to clean up the rot that had plagued the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC). We anticipated transparency, fairness, and a sector-wide reset built on consultation and inclusion.

But that hope is fading. What we’re witnessing now is not a renaissance – it’s a rerun of past mistakes, dressed in populist rhetoric and shielded by selective consultation.

The Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) Blunder: A Case Study in Dysfunction

In January 2025, hundreds of creatives applied for MGE funding – a lifeline for many projects. Adjudicators were appointed and paid. Yet months later, without explanation or accountability, DSAC announced a new call for the same funding. No results. No transparency. No justification.

How does a department discard a process it paid for without releasing the outcomes? Is that not the textbook definition of wasteful expenditure as outlined in the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA)? If DSAC believed the January process was flawed, why not explain and remedy it, rather than erase it? Why shrink the funding ceiling from R9 million to R2 million and force creatives to start from scratch?

This isn’t governance. It’s chaos – and it’s unconstitutional.

Exclusion by Design: When Self-Appointed Councils Take Over

Perhaps even more alarming is the sudden emergence of self-appointed “Sector Councils.” These bodies, many of them interim and unelected, are now being given platforms and recognition by DSAC. But who elected them? Where are the records of democratic processes? Where is the verification that they represent the sector?

Minister McKenzie has stated that R2 million in funding will only be allocated to sectors with elected councils by 1 April 2025. Yet, many of these councils are now operating without elections, without mandates, and without transparency.

Is this not a new form of capture – where legitimacy is replaced by proximity to power?

The Constitutional Crisis Brewing Beneath the Surface

South Africa’s Constitution is clear: governance must be transparent, accountable, and participatory. The Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) further mandates that all administrative decisions be lawful, reasonable, and procedurally fair.

So I ask:

Why are the January 2025 MGE results being withheld?

Why are sectoral voices that raise legitimate questions being dismissed as “noise”?

Why are public funds being promised to structures without constitutional legitimacy?

The Risk of Legal Action: A Path We Shouldn’t Have to Walk

If DSAC proceeds to disburse funds to unelected bodies, it risks violating the PFMA and PAJA. Creatives like myself may have no option but to seek declaratory orders to prevent the continued erosion of constitutional governance in our sector.

This is not a threat – it is a painful last resort. What we desire is not litigation, but dialogue. We do not want to fight our own Ministry. We want to work with it. But how do we engage when sectoral decisions are being made via social media and public events rather than through structured consultation?

CCIFSA and the Call for a Forensic Audit

We welcome the Parliament Portfolio Committee’s decision to investigate the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA) and the R27 million it received. But this process must be thorough. Former board members must be held accountable. DSAC officials who facilitated those transactions must explain their decisions. Otherwise, we risk another recycled mess – new names, same dysfunction.

The Personal Cost of Policy Failure

Let us not forget that behind every unprocessed application, every ignored submission, every delayed project – are human beings. Artists. Producers. Writers. Dancers. Storytellers. Breadwinners. The sector is bleeding, not because of a lack of talent or ideas, but because the systems meant to support us are collapsing under the weight of politics, ego, and poor leadership.

I am not writing this piece out of bitterness. I am writing out of necessity. Because I believe that a department led by someone as bold as Minister McKenzie still has the potential to turn things around – if it chooses dialogue over denial, consultation over control.

The Call: Minister McKenzie, Choose the Higher Road

Minister, the sector does not hate you. But it is hurting under your leadership.

You have the rare opportunity to rewrite the legacy of the arts in South Africa. Do not waste it on superficial engagements, self-appointed structures, and reactionary governance.

Instead, call for:

An urgent, inclusive National Arts Indaba, co-designed by real sector representatives.

The immediate publication of MGE adjudication results from January 2025.

A halt to all funding disbursements to councils until a national framework for elections is developed.

A forensic report on CCIFSA and DSAC’s role in its rise and fall.

A legislative review of how the sector is governed – moving from interim chaos to constitutional clarity.

We are not enemies. We are the hands that shape the soul of this country.

Let’s not allow the next generation to inherit a broken system built on silence and shadows.

Let us fix it now – together.

Thami AkaMbongo Manzana
akambongo@gmail.com
AkaMbongo Foundation Pty Ltd
http://www.akambongo.co.za

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Creative Disclaimer:

This piece is penned by Thami akaMbongo Manzana in his personal capacity – as an artist, thinker, and observer of life.

The reflections, ideas, and expressions shared here are entirely his own and are not meant to represent the views or positions of any organization, structure, or association he may be part of.

These are personal thoughts flowing from the heart, mind, and lived experience – meant to provoke thought, inspire dialogue, and spark the imagination.