NAC STAFF STRIKE DAY 21
A STRIKE, A WARNING IGNORED, AND A SECTOR ON THE EDGE
By Thami aka Mbongo Manzana
Day 21 of the National Arts Council (NAC) staff strike.
Three weeks of silence.
Three weeks of institutional denial.
Three weeks of a government watching a crisis unfold — and choosing not to act.
But let’s be clear from the beginning:
This did not start 21 days ago.
This crisis was diagnosed, documented, and debated in Parliament nearly a year ago.
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Parliament Saw It Coming
On 27 May 2025, the Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture convened to engage the NAC and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC).
What happened in that meeting should disturb every single stakeholder in the arts sector.
“The Committee unanimously agreed that proceeding with a presentation by the NAC would amount to legitimising a potentially unlawful board… the Council was not properly constituted… decisions taken by the current Council could be legally questionable.”
Read that again.
Parliament refused to even engage the NAC — because doing so would legitimise something potentially unlawful.
And yet, today, in 2026, we are told to believe that everything is functioning as it should.
Who is that narrative meant to convince?
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A “Painful Capture of the Sector”
The same parliamentary sitting went further — it named the problem in language that many have been afraid to use publicly:
“The Chairperson criticised DSAC and the NAC for failing to ensure the Council was fully constituted… perceptions of political interference remained entrenched… This, he said, amounted to the ‘painful capture of the sector.’”
There it is.
Capture.
Not mismanagement. Not oversight failure.
Capture.
So when workers take to the picket line today, they are not reacting to a moment.
They are reacting to a pattern.
Day 21: The Symptom, Not the Cause
Let’s stop calling this a labour dispute.
This is what happens when:
Governance warnings are ignored
Oversight is weakened
Accountability is delayed
Political considerations override institutional integrity
The strike is not the disruption.
It is the exposure.
The Collapse Beneath the Surface
While NAC Management and Council continue to project “business as usual,” the lived reality tells a different story:
AOSF funding outcomes are under scrutiny
PESP 6 appeals remain without clear communication
Emergency funding processes are undefined
PESP 7 is approaching with no visible readiness
And internally?
Arts Development Officers — the backbone of engagement and funding processes — are on strike.
This means:
Beneficiaries are dealing with unfamiliar officials
Institutional memory is disrupted
Processes are inconsistent
Remaining staff are overworked and under pressure
This is not stability.
This is a system under strain, slowly fracturing.
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The Questions That Refuse to Go Away
Let’s ask them — directly, without apology:
To the Minister:
Parliament raised these governance concerns in May 2025.
Why were they not resolved before the situation escalated into a national crisis?
Where is the leadership now — when it is most needed?
To DSAC:
Why did the Department continue to operate as if the NAC’s governance concerns were minor — when Parliament itself questioned its legitimacy?
To NAC Management and Council:
How do you justify maintaining a narrative of normality when operational realities clearly say otherwise?
If your legitimacy was publicly questioned, what confidence are you asking the sector to hold onto?
To Parliament:
You raised the alarm.
What follow-through mechanisms were activated?
What consequences were enforced?
Or has oversight become a ritual without impact?
The Human Cost of Silence
Behind policy language and institutional statements are real people:
Workers without income for three weeks
Families navigating uncertainty
Artists waiting on funding decisions
Young creatives losing opportunities they cannot recover
And still — no urgency.
So we ask again:
Where is Ubuntu when silence becomes policy?
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This Is Bigger Than NAC
If this crisis is allowed to continue unresolved, the damage will extend far beyond one institution:
Trust in public arts funding will collapse
The credibility of cultural governance will weaken
The already fragile creative economy will absorb yet another blow
And perhaps most dangerously:
It will set a precedent that governance failure has no consequence.
A Call That Cannot Be Ignored
This is the moment where the sector must decide:
To remain fragmented and silent —
or to stand together and demand accountability.
Support for NAC staff must move beyond sympathy into action:
Join the picket — make the struggle visible
Write to DSAC, the Minister, and the Portfolio Committee — demand intervention
Mobilise networks — break the silence across platforms
Because what is happening now is not isolated.
It is systemic.
Final Word: This Is the Line
Day 21 is not just a milestone.
It is a line in the sand.
A moment that will define whether the arts and culture sector in South Africa accepts decline — or demands transformation.
Parliament warned us.
The workers are showing us.
The system is exposing itself.
Now the responsibility shifts to all of us.
Do we act — or do we wait for total collapse?
Sign. Share. Stand.
If you believe in accountability…
If you believe in the dignity of workers…
If you believe the arts sector deserves better…
Then act.
👉🏾 Sign and share the petition:
https://c.org/rMW8vKLcH5
Because change will not come from silence.
It will come from pressure.
And that pressure must start now.
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