Thami AkaMbongo Manzana: South Africa’s culture of comfort in a rotten system.

There comes a time when silence becomes more dangerous than speaking out.

When institutions built to serve the people begin to rot from within, even those who mean well start to smell of complicity. The Cultural and Creative Industries of South Africa have reached that point – where corruption wears creativity as camouflage, and comfort has become the enemy of conscience.

We are watching a system that eats its own, a system that rewards silence and punishes truth. And whether you are inside or outside, beneficiary or victim, whisperer or witness – the rot affects us all.

INSTITUTIONS ARE NOT PERSONAL PROJECTS

Institutions exist to serve the people – not to serve those who temporarily occupy them. Yet across South Africa’s Cultural and Creative Industries, too many behave like custodians turned kings. Positions become possessions, offices become empires, and loyalty replaces accountability.

This is where the rot begins: not in dramatic scandals, but in the quiet arrogance of those who confuse power with purpose. Institutions do not belong to individuals – they belong to the nation and its people.

Until we understand that, every attempt at transformation will be swallowed by ego.

BEING INSIDE THE SYSTEM DOES NOT MEAN YOU MUST DEFEND IT

Being funded by government does not mean you must lose your voice. Working within a public system does not make you a spokesperson for its failures. The few who dare to speak from inside know how costly that courage can be – isolation, exclusion, and silent punishment.

But silence is deadlier than confrontation. Silence is complicity. Being inside the rotten system should make one more courageous, not more compliant. True integrity means being able to challenge the rot even while working within it.

WHEN THE FIGHT BECOMES PERSONAL – WE LOSE THE BATTLE

We’ve seen this pattern before. When former Minister Nathi Mthethwa was in office, many fought him loudly. Today, under Minister Gayton McKenzie, some of the same voices have become praise singers. Yet the system remains unchanged.

So were they fighting the system, or just the person? Even leaders who once held the same offices remain quiet while the same decay continues.

When our fight becomes personal, we lose focus on the real enemy: the system itself – the machinery of decay that outlives every individual who passes through it.

THE LESSON OF SIMBA PEMHENHAYI AND THE LONG WALK THROUGH ROT

I was taught by the late Simba Pemhenhayi never to confuse people with systems. The system outlives faces, and if you want to defeat it, you must confront its design, not its actors.

Since 1998, I’ve written and spoken about this rot within South Africa’s Cultural and Creative Industries. I’ve entered institutions not to be swallowed, but to challenge. Those who know me understand – I’ve stood against this decay for decades, and my stance has never changed.

Too many, however, change theirs when benefits come. They adjust their tone when opportunities flow. They defend what they once denounced. But the fight for truth cannot be seasonal.

ROT IN EVERY CORNER: THE SYMPTOMS OF DECAY

The rot reveals itself in every layer:

Funding outcomes that reward relationships, not merit.

Appeal processes wrapped in secrecy and confusion.

Sector coordination deliberately weakened to divide voices.

Industry structures that promote competition over collaboration.

These are not isolated incidents – they are symptoms of the same disease. The system thrives on chaos because confusion is its control. Even the myth that “artists are not united” is a deliberate narrative – a tactic to keep creatives disorganised while the machinery of decay continues unchecked.

SILENCE: THE NEW QUALIFICATION FOR SURVIVAL

In this system, silence has become the new qualification. The more you comply, the more “strategic” you appear. The moment you speak truth, you are branded “disruptive.”

That’s how the rotten system feeds – on fear, obedience, and the illusion of professionalism. It rewards those who behave and punishes those who question. Every time we whisper instead of shouting, we give the rot oxygen.

We can’t claim to want change while protecting the comfort that sustains the decay.

SELECTIVE OUTRAGE AND MORAL CONVENIENCE

We have become a nation of selective outrage. We shout when injustice affects us, and stay silent when it benefits us. We demand accountability from our enemies, but make excuses for our allies.

This moral inconsistency keeps the rot alive. Justice that depends on who you like is not justice – it’s manipulation.

If we are serious about transformation, we must confront the rot with the same energy no matter who is involved.

NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW

The South African Constitution is clear: no one is above the law. Yet too many act as if their power grants them immunity. Those who do wrong must face justice – regardless of title, connections, or influence.

Equally, everyone deserves protection under the law. We cannot choose when the law applies or who deserves its protection. It cannot be used as a weapon against some and a shield for others.

Selective justice is a slow poison – it destroys faith in the very democracy we claim to protect.

THE ANIMAL FARM SYNDROME

We are living our own Animal Farm. The faces of power change, but the behaviour remains the same. Each new era promises transformation, yet only perfects the performance of the same decay.

Representation without integrity is betrayal. Transformation without ethics is decoration. Until the rotten system itself is dismantled – not just managed – the story will never change.

THE STENCH WE PRETEND NOT TO SMELL

The rot is not hidden – it’s a culture. We talk about it in private, hint at it online, and shake our heads in silence, yet the machinery keeps turning because too many of us have adapted to its smell.

The rotten system doesn’t require everyone to be corrupt – it just needs enough honest people to be afraid.

FROM APARTHEID TO DEMOCRACY: THE SYSTEM LEARNS TO SMILE WHILE IT STRANGLES

During apartheid, the system silenced truth through force. In democracy, it does it with politeness – through policies, invitations, contracts, and the illusion of inclusion.

The rot has learned to smile while it strangles. It praises “collaboration” while promoting exclusion. It celebrates “partnership” while maintaining control.

We inherited a system designed to exclude, and instead of dismantling it, we decorated it with diversity.

A CALL TO COURAGE

Fighting the rotten system has never been easy – it will never be. It fights back with deception, intimidation, and manipulation. But we must never stop speaking.

To some of us, this fight began decades ago – and it continues. We do not stand against individuals; we stand against a design that corrupts them. We do not fight for fame; we fight for the integrity of culture itself.

Because when truth dies, art dies.

When art dies, culture dies.

And when culture dies, the nation loses its soul.

Thami AkaMbongo Manzana
akambongo@gmail.com
081 388 6684
AkaMbongo Foundation Pty Ltd

Disclaimer: Artslink.co.za encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views published do not necessarily represent the views of Artslink.co.za.

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.