COOKING THE NUMBERS
OPEN LETTER TO ARTS FUNDING BENEFICIARIES
Dear Arts Funding Beneficiaries,
I hope this letter finds you well — though I write it with a heavy heart and a conscience that has been restless for years.
After working on a real project that genuinely incorporated all the elements of a PESP initiative — real planning, real implementation, and most importantly, real job creation backed by clear evidence — I have seen firsthand what accountability looks like. I have seen the effort it takes to pay people properly, to document honestly, and to deliver impact beyond paper. And when I now look at the level of funding allocated to such work, and compare it to the amounts given to projects that cannot account, cannot prove, and cannot demonstrate any real impact, my conscience refuses to be silent. It would be a betrayal of the very artists we claim to serve if I did not speak out. This letter, therefore, is not just opinion — it is a moral obligation.
There is a question that has refused to leave me: What has happened to the integrity of job creation in our sector?
Programmes like PESP were never designed to be tick-box exercises. They were meant to restore dignity, create meaningful employment, and breathe life into the Cultural and Creative Industries in South Africa. Yet, what we continue to witness is a disturbing culture of manipulation and misrepresentation.
How do we justify calling people “beneficiaries” when they have never meaningfully benefited?
Workshops and so-called capacity-building sessions are being used as shortcuts — spaces where names are collected, registers are signed, and reports are later inflated to reflect “jobs created.” This is not job creation. This is exploitation dressed up as impact.
Institutions like the National Arts Council are now asking critical questions — including the actual amounts paid per job opportunity. And rightly so. Because too many reports are being manufactured, too many numbers are being cooked, and too many artists are being used as statistics rather than being paid as professionals.
There are those who receive the first tranche of funding and divert it before a single aspect of the project is implemented. Funds meant for artists are redirected to personal priorities — cars, rent, lifestyles, even weddings — while the very creatives who were meant to benefit are left with promises and exposure.
What is even more alarming is the level of coordination in deception:
- Fabricated reports.
- Staged photographs.
- Non-existent programmes.
And projects that only seem to exist on social media, with no real footprint in communities.
This is not just unethical — it is a betrayal of an already struggling sector.
We cannot continue to normalize this. We cannot continue to whisper about it in corridors and behind closed doors. There must come a time when we speak — boldly, truthfully, and without fear.
Enough is enough.
Those who are abusing this industry must be called out — not out of malice, but out of a deep responsibility to protect the integrity of the work, the dignity of artists, and the future of the sector.
Silence has protected this behavior for far too long.
The courage we are beginning to see in other sectors must find its way into ours. Because if we do not hold each other accountable, we risk losing not just funding — but credibility, trust, and the very soul of the Cultural and Creative Industries.
This is not an attack. It is a call to conscience.
And soon — I will speak further. With evidence. With facts. With the receipts.
Yours in truth and accountability,
Thami aka Mbongo Manzana
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