SA artists’ call to Ramaphosa: Stop making Arts & Culture a dumping ground for delinquent Ministers

When Nathi Mthethwa was moved by former President Jacob Zuma from the police portfolio to the role of Minister of Arts and Culture in 2014, it was widely viewed as a demotion.

Mthethwa had served as Minister of Police during the Marikana Massacre, and had been forced to publicly carry the can for the security upgrades undertaken at former president Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla residence. At the time of Mthethwa’s ministerial shift, his political capital was extremely low.

Many observers complained at the time that Mthethwa also appeared to possess very little specialised knowledge about arts and culture, with some pointing out that now-deceased ANC Minister Collins Chabane might have made for a better selection given that Chabane was himself an active musician.

Interviewed at the time of his appointment, Mthethwa was asked whether he would support the right of a private art gallery to show a painting like Brett Murray’s The Spear – the now-infamous depiction of Zuma with his genitals exposed which prompted legal threats from the ANC during its exhibition in 2012.

Mthethwa’s response: “What is The Spear?”

Mthethwa’s appointment deepened the perception of the Department of Arts & Culture as a dumping ground for under-performing or politically radioactive ANC Ministers.

Now, a group of prominent arts, culture and heritage practitioners say enough is enough.

In an open letter and petition to President Cyril Ramaphosa, they are asking for the first post-election Cabinet reshuffle to include “a credible new Arts & Culture Minister from civil society who is respected by the arts community”.

Signatories include actor Denise Newman, comedian Riaad Moosa, musicians Vicky Sampson and Zolani Mahola, cartoonist Zapiro and playwright Mike van Graan. Former Agang leader Mamphela Ramphele has also put her name to the letter.

Heritage activist Patric Tariq Mellet, one of the organisers, told Daily Maverick that the call to Ramaphosa was borne out of deep frustration.

“We are all very concerned about the marginalising of [the Department of] Arts & Culture in the political arena,” Mellet said.

“We are crying out to be enabled to do something to strengthen the backbone of our society. I think back to the really difficult days of apartheid: South Africa was known for its music, art, stage shows around the world. In our liberation, this has kind of fallen apart. There’s no championing of arts and culture.”

In asking Ramaphosa to appoint someone from beyond party politics as a Cabinet Minister, the activists are drawing on Section 91 (3c) of Chapter Five of the Constitution, which permits the President to make no more than two Cabinet appointments from outside the ranks of the National Assembly.

Though a number of ministers and deputy ministers were appointed under former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma who were not serving MPs at the time, the only appointment of a non-politically affiliated Cabinet minister over the last 25 years was Nelson Mandela’s selection of Chris Liebenberg as Finance Minister in the government of national unity in 1994.

The activists have received support for the proposal to appoint a non-politician as Minister of Arts & Culture from former Constitutional Court Judge Albie Sachs.

Judge Sachs has submitted an accompanying statement to the letter suggesting that a “small team of independent persons” be used by Ramaphosa to “produce a list of two or three people to serve as Minister, or DG [Director-General], or adviser to the minister” from civil society.

Sachs concludes: “I would be available to serve on such an interviewing body. I’m sure there are many other people who love the arts who would also be available.”

Arts practitioners have long complained about the management and vision of the Department of Arts & Culture, with playwright Van Graan writing in Daily Maverick in February 2019 that it was characterised by “sheer incompetence and negligence”. Van Graan pointed out that this was not necessarily a funding issue, with more public funding available for the arts than for sports.

Although Mthethwa was perhaps the most eyebrow-raising appointment to head the portfolio, previous Arts & Culture ministers have also attracted controversy.

Mthethwa’s predecessor Paul Mashatile was implicated in a 2011 corruption scandal involving South Africa’s representatives to the Venice Biennale. Another former Minister, Lulu Xingwana, famously walked out of a photographic exhibition by Zanele Muholi in 2010 on the grounds that its portraits of lesbian couples were “immoral, offensive, and going against nation-building”.

Arguably the most respected ANC figure to hold the portfolio was Pallo Jordan, who served as a minister under former president Thabo Mbeki between 2004 and 2009 – a period before the humiliating revelation that Jordan had falsely claimed to hold a PhD put paid to his political career in 2014.

It was during the administration of former president Jacob Zuma, however, that the department’s reputation as a political gulag was entrenched.

The signatories to the open letter write that they are concerned that this trend may continue under President Cyril Ramaphosa unless firm action is taken.

“It worries us, when looking at the strong delinquent elements in the ANC list of candidates, that, once again, the Minister of Arts and Culture will likely be a compromised ANC member, to the detriment of our people and our country,” they state.

If Ramaphosa were to adopt the proposal to appoint a non-political Minister of Arts & Culture, it would be a highly unusual move. On the other hand, Ramaphosa’s appointment of Tito Mboweni as Finance Minister despite the fact that Mboweni had not held a Cabinet position since 1999 suggests that the current president may be more open to external expertise than some of his predecessors.

It also remains to be seen whether the Department of Arts & Culture, and the attendant role of Minister, will still exist in the same format after elections. Ramaphosa has confirmed that he intends to reduce the size of the executive, most likely by merging certain departments. DM