WHEN KNOWLEDGE IS AVAILABLE BUT IGNORED
MONDAY EDITION | UMRHABULO, POLICY & PUBLIC DISCOURSE
Rethinking the Role of Academics in the Cultural and Creative Industries
By Thami akaMbongo Manzana
South Africa does not suffer from a lack of research, data, or intellectual capacity in the Cultural and Creative Industries.
What we suffer from is a failure to place knowledge at the centre of decision-making, activism, and sector reform.
We need passionate academics to take centre stage — not as background consultants, not as footnotes in reports, but as active advocates for the betterment of the Cultural and Creative Industries.
The uncomfortable question is: why are they so often sidelined?
When Institutions Use Academics Selectively
Institutions know exactly how to use academics when it suits them.
They are consulted when:
• Data is needed for Parliament
• Reports are required for Treasury
• Monitoring and evaluation must be justified
• Policy documents need academic weight
But how often are academics truly listened to when their findings challenge institutional comfort, political agendas, or poor governance?
Take the example of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) and the South African Cultural Observatory (SACO).
SACO exists precisely to research, analyse, and generate evidence for policy and decision-making. Yet how many SACO recommendations are:
• Implemented fully?
• Acted upon urgently?
• Used to correct failed programmes or funding models?
Or is research only embraced when it confirms what the institution already wants to do?
If evidence is ignored when it is inconvenient, can we honestly claim to be a sector driven by knowledge?
Academics Inside Government: Knowledge Blocked by Power?
It must also be acknowledged that some academics work inside government and public entities.
Many of them:
• Know exactly what needs to change
• Understand policy gaps and structural failures
• Have researched solutions for years
Yet they operate within systems of:
• Excessive red tape
• Political interference
• Micromanagement
• Fear of speaking out
How many brilliant minds are muted by hierarchy, unable to influence real change because challenging the system comes at a personal or professional cost?
And if that is the case, how do we protect and amplify these voices rather than allowing them to be buried inside bureaucracy?
Activism Without Research vs Research Without Activism
Another difficult conversation the sector must have is about activism.
The Cultural and Creative Industries have activists — many of them brave, vocal, and necessary. But how often is activism:
• Driven by emotion rather than evidence?
• Loud but unsupported by data?
• Reactive rather than strategic?
At the same time, there are academics producing solid research who:
• Rarely appear in public debates
• Are overshadowed by louder voices
• Are dismissed as “too theoretical”
So the question becomes:
Do we really listen to academics, or do we allow them to be overpowered by activism that lacks intellectual grounding?
And equally:
Why are some academics reluctant to step into activism when their work demands it?
Can the Sector Balance Knowledge and Activism?
The real challenge is balance.
How do we build a sector where:
• Activism is informed by research
• Research is mobilised through activism
• Data strengthens advocacy
• Intellectual rigour supports policy demands
Is it not time for a new form of activism — one that:
• Speaks the language of policy
• Understands legislation
• Uses evidence strategically
• Negotiates from a position of intellectual authority?
Making Education Fashionable in the Sector
There is another uncomfortable truth.
Across many institutions, influential positions are held by people with higher qualifications — Honours, Masters, and PhDs. Yet within the sector itself, education is sometimes treated with suspicion, even hostility.
Why is education not celebrated more openly in the Cultural and Creative Industries?
Why is academic excellence not positioned as a tool for liberation rather than elitism?
What if we intentionally encouraged:
• More practitioners to pursue postgraduate studies
• More researchers to remain connected to communities
• More scholar-activists to take centre stage
Would that not strengthen our negotiating power with the state, Treasury, and funding institutions?
Rethinking the Negotiation Table
Perhaps the negotiation table itself needs to change.
Not everyone must play the same role.
Maybe the future requires:
• Academics to lead on policy analysis and data
• Practitioners to ground debates in lived realities
• Activists to mobilise and apply pressure
• Media platforms to document and interrogate power
Is it not time to intentionally seat academics at the centre of sector negotiations, not as observers but as strategists?
A Question the Sector Can No Longer Avoid
If we continue to sideline academics, ignore research, and undervalue education, we must ask ourselves honestly:
Are we serious about transforming the Cultural and Creative Industries — or are we comfortable repeating the same mistakes, armed with passion but lacking evidence?
Perhaps the future of the sector depends not on choosing between activism and academia — but on finally understanding that we need both, urgently, and working together.
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