Arthur Mafokate. Picture: Instagram/@arthurmafokate
Kwaito star Arthur Mafokate has been appointed the new chairperson for the Cultural and Creatives Industries Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA).
He shared the news of his appointment on his social media platforms. Reacting to the news, entertainment commentator Phil Mphela said this is a middle finger to the creative industry of South Africa.
He added: “Arthur Mafokate & Eugene Mthethwa were removed from an industry conference task team committee led by CCIFSA back in 2019. Arthur was alleged to be appointed as chairman. Can’t be true. ANC govt funds this?”
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In 2019, SowetanLive reported that Arthur had threatened to take legal action and penned a complaint via email with the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) after he and Eugene Mthethwa were removed from the industry’s conference task team committee.
They were reportedly part of the Creative Industry Task Team (CITT) formed to work with CCIFSA to organise a conference.
CITT and South African Creative Practitioners in Unity (SACPU), member Balungile Sokhulu told the publication then that Arthur was removed but refused to share the reasons.
He stated that the process of removing people is an internal matter.
“Arthur was not the first person to be removed from the task team. We removed him with another person, and we informed him about it before announcing it in our group chat. We still work with Eugene while Arthur has decided not to work with us anymore.”
In his email leaked by SowetonLive, Arthur said he did not know why he was removed from the task team.
He said the person that he was referred to for an explanation refused to tell him the real reason and ignored his calls.
“I want to know which processes were applied. I only got to know about it through a text message sent to a WhatsApp group, which was also not honest and truthful… This is a sensitive issue that I would prefer to keep private for now. My lawyers are handling the matter.”
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