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News24 reports that a forensic report has revealed that the National Arts Council (NAC), which was tasked with allocating nearly R300 million in Covid-19 relief funds to artists, overshot its budget and approved more than double the amount that had been allocated.
In October 2020, the Department of Arts and Culture and the NAC entered into an agreement for the latter to distribute R285 million in the Presidential Economic Stimulus Programme (PESP) as relief for artists and programmes affected by the pandemic. It has now been revealed that a failure by the council to provide financial oversight in the PESP implementation resulted in an over-commitment of R637 million, namely more than double the allocated budget. The report, which was handed to Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa last week, revealed that applicants had been approved and contracted for more funding than they had applied for, that the NAC had approved more beneficiaries than there was funding allocated for, and that, contrary to the NAC Act, certain former council members acted as adjudicators in the funding allocation process. At a briefing on Monday, Mthethwa vowed that those involved in the maladministration would face justice. He advised that said that the report had fingered five employees for wrongdoing. Three of the implicated employees no longer worked at the NAC, while the minister has given the remaining two a week to respond to the allegations. NAC chairperson Princess Celenhle Dlamini said that a very small number of people had received more than what they should have as the NAC had managed to halt the process before the money had been disbursed. She said that money would not be recovered from those artists who had been overpaid as they were not at fault.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lwandile Bhengu at News24 (subscriber access only)
- Read too, Heads expected to roll over mismanaged Covid relief cash, at The Citizen (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page