With the cultural sector affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, during October last year, the National Arts and Culture was given R300 million to pay out to the arts and artistic sector.

Through this money, NAC was supposed to create employment and retain initiatives for artists and others in the cultural sector.

After a lodge of complaints on the mismanagement of funds from the creative sector, an investigation was implemented and thus revealing that there was a violation of the General Public Finance Management Act, maladministration as well as over-committing of funds.

The Arts and Culture Minister, Nathi Mthethwa, released the findings of the investigation on Monday in Pretoria, the investigation revealed that five National Arts Council (NAC) members were implicated in the R300 million arts stimulus mismanagement.

“They violated the National Arts Council Act, they violated their own meeting in their own council, where they resolved that they would remain in an oversight structure, but they didn’t do that, they went and became adjudicators and got paid for that,”Nathi said.

Mthethwa revealed that three of the officials implicated in the mismanagement of the R300 million stimulus package were now not employees of the council, while two remained and were given a week to reply to the allegations against them.

Mthethwa said that he is currently seeking legal advice on what action to take against the senior officials.