SowetanLIVE reports that artists were dragged to clear the way for vehicles at the entrance of the minister of sports, arts and culture Nathi Mthethwa's Pretoria offices on Tuesday.

A group of five artists were among creatives who blocked the entrance of the building. In videos and pictures posted by the group, opera singer Sibongile Mngoma was left topless after her blouse was stripped off by the police. The creatives had visited the department’s offices wanting answers on the memorandum of demands they submitted last week. The situation was so tense that metro police, members of the SA Police Service and army were brought in to allow the staff locked inside to leave the building. The department and creatives were supposed to have met on Tuesday morning, but the meeting was postponed at the eleventh hour to Friday. When the artists arrived in the morning, the building was protected by squad of security personnel, but the artists said they were not going anywhere until they were attended to. “They decided to postpone the meeting at the 11th hour. I received a text when I was on my way here from Bloemfontein. I refused to allow that to happen,” Mngoma said. Last week, the artists tabled their demands in which they wanted Mthethwa to resign over what they said was lack of understanding of the industry. The group further demanded the public release of the forensic report on the mismanagement of Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP) funds. They further wanted the department to release all information regarding recipients of Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) funding.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Patience Bambalele at SowetanLIVE

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