Artists who haven’t been paid Covid-19 relief fund, we are following up – Mthethwa

Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa said he is aware of the numerous queries from artists around the country who say they have not received the department’s relief fund after they sent through their applications.

One such artist is Simphiwe Dana, who took to Twitter to ask the department what was happening with the application process.

“Dear @ArtsCultureSA it’s now been over 70 days since lockdown, I haven’t gotten a response to my Covid-19 proposal. Could you update us on what the holdup now is?”

Dana said artists needed answers as they have not made money during this period.

https://twitter.com/simphiwedana/status/1265588302930944005

https://twitter.com/simphiwedana/status/1265890284648480769

The minister responded: “Good day, if you applied for the sport, arts, and culture relief fund and you did not receive a response, please send me a DM with the email address you used to apply so we can follow up. We had several follow ups for a different grant in the previous tweet. Thank you.”

Good day, if you applied for the Sport, Arts and Culture Relief Fund and you did not receive a response, please send me a DM with the email address you used to apply so we can follow up. We had several follow ups for a different grant in the previous Tweet. Thank you.

— Min. Nathi Mthethwa (@NathiMthethwaSA) May 28, 2020

Artists have written several open letters to the minister, claiming they have submitted all the necessary documentation, but they did not receive any communication back from the department.

Actress Nokuthula Mavuso wrote an open letter to the minister saying she sent through all the required documents to the department.

“I’m yet to receive an acknowledgment of receipt from your department. It pains me that actors like myself have been ignored or rejected without a plausible explanation,” she said.

The minister said in a statement earlier this week that the R150 million relief fund was to assist artists, athletes, and technical personnel.  The deadline for the application of the relief fund was 6 April.

“The other part of this fund was open to proposals for live streaming the work of creatives and athletes, particularly, intergenerational cooperation between younger artists and legends. Both processes, the relief fund adjudication, as well as the tender application process for service providers, were mutually exclusive,” he said.

The maximum amount given to each artist is R20,000. Those who requested less than R20,000 were given the amounts they specifically requested, the minister said.

(Compiled by Sandisiwe Mbhele)

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