ALL those involved in the mismanagement of R51.8 million given to the Creative Industries Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA) by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture between the financial years 2014/15 and 2023/24 will be handed over to the Hawks and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
This was said by Minister Gayton McKenzie after his department received an investigation report that he requested to be done by Gobodo Forensic and Investigative Accounting (GFIA) on the operation of money.
According to the Ministry’s statement, the investigation found that in 2016 a change was made in the Ministry’s contract with CCIFSA and the subsidy amount was increased by R77,884 from what was agreed.
R5.4 million that was supposed to be returned to the department in 2016/17 because it was not used, CCIFSA continued to use it to carry out other programs in the years in which there was no agreement.
It is said that the CCIFSA report on how the money was spent was misleading.
The R13 million that CCIFSA was supposed to use for the Downtown Music Hub program was combined with its money in one account, which is said to have never happened.
It also appears that CCIFSA failed to explain the use of R10 million in prizes called Usiba.
CCIFSA’s budget for the funding request indicated that it would take 32% of the total to pay the salaries of workers and officials, which is triple the 10% approved according to the agreement.
McKenzie ordered the Director General of the Department, Dr Stella Khumalo to take action against the employees affected by the report.
He said the Department will also forward the report to the Auditor General, SIU and Klebe to continue the investigation.
“The department will also review its current and future relationship with CCFISA.” she said.
McKenzie said the report ends all talk of abuse of CCIFSA.
“What the investigation has revealed is that no one is being abused. It shows the mismanagement of public money, the failure to explain the use of money, the failure to return the money that did not work and the failure to put in place how the money was used. The people of South Africa and the artists that this organization was supposed to work for deserve the truth about what happened to this money,” said McKenzie.
CCIFSA National President, Joy Mbewana, said that she has been wanting to get the full report for some time as she still hasn’t received it.
In the statement of the department it was reported that the full report is its own internal.
“You can’t be a matter of the department, otherwise we will go to court. We want it because we want to shut up everyone who has been shocked by the old allegations.”
He said McKenzie entered the office and stopped the funding they were receiving without proof that there was any mismanagement of money.
“When he came into office, he rose up and fell down on us. Even at Winnie Khumalo’s funeral, he said that we receive millions but we don’t report anything. When I came to the office in 2019, an investigation had been done and what he is revealing now. It is not new. We sat down with the director of the department and fixed things and that is why under our leadership nothing scandalous came out,” said Joy.
Meanwhile, CCIFSA in KwaZulu-Natal held a protest outside the Playhouse, Durban, yesterday complaining about the way the institution is being managed.
Its Chairman in KZN, Thokozani “T’zozo” Zulu, said that they want the manager of the Playhouse, Linda Bukhosini, to choose one position and manage it.
“He is not available when he has to design his role as an artistic director. We also want the Playhouse in Mayville to be opened which has been closed for some time. Another thing we are complaining about is that the Playhouse receives R57 million from the government which they say is to pay workers and security guards. As artists we must pay if we use it and pay overtime for the workers which is wrong.”
He said they gave them a deadline of seven days to respond.
Efforts to contact Bukhosini were unsuccessful as his phone rang and went unanswered.