PUBLIC ENTITIES ARE NOT PRIVATE SPACES
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Public entities must never be treated as private entities — especially when dealing with the public and responding to public outcries.
Yet, in South Africa’s Cultural and Creative Industries, this basic principle is increasingly ignored. What we are witnessing is not just administrative failure, but a worrying culture of entitlement, where management, officials, and workers in public institutions behave as though they are doing the public a favour by simply doing their jobs.
When Public Service Feels Like a Favour
Artists, cultural practitioners, organisations, and ordinary citizens engage public entities seeking information, support, funding clarity, or accountability. Too often, they are met with:
Dismissive attitudes
Silence or delayed responses
Hostility when asking questions
Defensive reactions to public criticism
Why has public service been reduced to an act of charity rather than a responsibility?
Who gave permission for public officials to forget that they serve the public — not the other way around?
Studied Public Administration, Practised Private Power
Many individuals working in public office have studied:
Public Management
Public Administration
Governance and policy frameworks
On paper, they understand accountability, transparency, ethics, and service delivery.
In practice, however, few seem to apply these principles consistently in their daily work.
What happens between the classroom and the office that causes this disconnect?
Is public administration treated as a qualification to secure power, rather than a commitment to serve?
Normalising Poor Treatment
Perhaps the most dangerous development is that we have normalised bad treatment.
For years, the public has been expected to tolerate:
Rudeness without consequence
Delays without explanation
Decisions without justification
Disrespect disguised as authority
Why have we accepted this for so long?
Is it fear of being victimised?
Is it exhaustion?
Or have we simply been conditioned to believe that challenging public institutions will lead nowhere?
The Silence Around Law and Policy
South Africa is not short of laws, policies, and legislation governing public institutions.
Yet very few people actively use these tools to challenge misconduct, maladministration, or abuse of power.
Why are policies only quoted when they protect institutions, but ignored when they empower the public?
Why do public entities often react aggressively when members of the public reference legislation?
What does this say about the balance of power between institutions and citizens?
Public Money Demands Public Accountability
Public entities exist because of public funding. Artists and practitioners are not outsiders — they are taxpayers, citizens, and stakeholders.
So we must ask:
Who do public entities believe they are accountable to?
Why is criticism treated as hostility instead of civic participation?
Why do public outcries feel like inconveniences rather than warning signs?
If public entities cannot withstand scrutiny, are they fit to manage public resources?
Clarity-Seeking Questions We Must Ask
As the Cultural and Creative Industries continue to demand transformation and regulation, we must confront these uncomfortable questions:
How do we restore a culture of ethical public service in arts institutions?
What consequences exist for officials who consistently mistreat the public?
How can practitioners better use legislation to challenge injustice?
What role should media platforms play in holding public entities accountable?
At what point does silence from public institutions become misconduct?
Reclaiming the Meaning of “Public”
Public entities are not personal territories.
They are not private companies.
They are not above accountability.
They exist because of the public — and must answer to the public.
Until we stop normalising poor treatment and start demanding accountability using the very laws designed to protect us, the promise of transformation in the Cultural and Creative Industries will remain incomplete.
The real question is no longer whether the public has the right to demand better.
The question is: why have we not demanded it forcefully enough — until now?
The Creative Passport is an independent platform focused on Arts, Culture and the Creative Industries. Readers are encouraged to follow, comment and engage constructively.
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