The Democratic Alliance DA has accused Sports , Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie of betraying artists with empty promises and blatant disregard for their livelihoods.
On Wednesday 14 May, members of the creative sector protested at the Union Buildings demanding funding from the Departments Mzansi Golden Economy MGE.
Zama Ntshona, convener and spokesperson of the Cultural and Creative Industry Practitioners, said MGE was supposed to give artists money at the end of March 2025. He claimed McKenzie had failed to respond to their letters.
McKenzie must release results of Mzansi Golden Economy, the score, winners, losers and amounts awarded. Give us what is rightfully ours, Ntshona said, per Daily Sun .
DA slams McKenzies betrayal of creative sectorIn a statement on Friday 16 May, DA member of Parliament Joe McGluwa called for a full parliamentary inquiry into the MGE application and adjudication process.
The Minister and senior Department officials must be summoned to Parliament to explain the cancellation of funding calls, breakdown in communication and allegations of maladministration, he added.
He also called for Parliament to make a special oversight visit to the Department to determine whether public funds intended to uplift artists are being misused, withheld or allowed to rot in bureaucratic limbo.
Minister McKenzie's failure to release the MGE funding outcomes, his Department's erratic decision-making and the utter collapse in communication have plunged the sector into chaos, McGluwa said.
He further claimed the Department had not kept its promises to artists and cancelled applications without proper explanation.
Many creatives, particularly in rural and township areas, were locked out of the process entirely due to inaccessible submission channels. This is more than incompetence, it's contempt, MgCluwa claimed.
