THE GREAT CULTURAL BETRAYAL: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED INSIDE CCIFSA?
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WHO IS CCIFSA? AND WHO MUST ACCOUNT FOR R51.8 MILLION?
By Thami akaMbongo Manzana
The recent statement by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) confirming serious financial irregularities involving R51.8 million transferred to the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA) between the 2014/15 and 2023/24 financial years has opened serious questions that cannot be ignored.
According to the forensic investigation conducted by Gobodo Forensic and Investigative Accounting (GFIA), the findings point to extensive governance failures, breaches of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), weak oversight, and financial mismanagement.
But South Africans especially artists, cultural workers and practitioners must ask a deeper question:
Who created CCIFSA? Who protected it? Who benefited from it? And who must now account?
This cannot simply be reduced to an administrative scandal. This is a decade-long political and institutional project involving Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Directors-General, DSAC officials, interim committees, elected leadership structures and politically connected cultural figures.
The truth is uncomfortable: CCIFSA did not emerge from nowhere.
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THE BEGINNING: THE PAUL MASHATILE ANNOUNCEMENT
On 21 March 2014, then Minister of Arts and Culture, Paul Mashatile, publicly announced the Interim Committee for the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA).
According to the official announcement, the Interim Committee was chaired by Yvonne Chaka-Chaka, with Mabutho Sithole serving as Deputy Chairperson.
The committee members included:
- Sello Galane
- Bulelwa Bam
- Mandla Balisa
- Ramadan Suleman
- Freddie Nyathela
- Sello Maake Ka Ncube
- Portia Matshego
- Mokena Makeka
- Vuyisile Mshudulu
- Dodo Monamodi
- Florence Masebe
- Andre Le Roux
- Mpho Molepo
- Eugene Mthethwa
- Jyoti Maistry
The Department reportedly provided an operational budget of R5 million and a secretariat to support the committee’s work.
This raises the first major accountability question:
What happened to the original R5 million allocated to the Interim Committee?
If the forensic report seeks to uncover the roots of the current crisis, then investigators cannot selectively focus only on later years while ignoring the foundation upon which CCIFSA was built.
Would it not be strategic for Minister Gayton McKenzie and DSAC to properly engage Deputy President Paul Mashatile and everyone who served in the CCIFSA Interim Committee to begin accounting for this first R5 million as a starting point?
It is also understood that changes later took place within the Interim Committee, with additional names including:
- Paul Sibisi
- Tony Kgoroge
- Mandla Maseko
and several others.
This process eventually built toward the CCIFSA Inaugural Conference held in Mangaung, Bloemfontein from 21–24 March 2015.
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Image: Former Minister Nathi Mthethwa
THE NATHI MTHETHWA ERA: “CCIFSA MUST HAPPEN”
After Paul Mashatile left the Ministry, Nathi Mthethwa took over and played a crucial role in ensuring that CCIFSA became fully operational and implemented.
For years, many artists and cultural practitioners complained about lack of consultation, confusion around representation, governance concerns and political interference surrounding CCIFSA.
Yet many within DSAC allegedly defended the structure aggressively.
To many in the sector, the message from the Department became clear:
“If it is not CCIFSA, DSAC does not want to hear it.”
This is why accountability cannot stop only at elected office bearers. Senior DSAC management and officials who facilitated transfers, approved funding, enabled structures, signed agreements and defended the organisation politically must also account.
Public money does not move itself.
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Image: DG Cynthia Khumalo
WHERE WAS OVERSIGHT?
Director-General Cynthia Khumalo joined DSAC in July 2020, during a period when CCIFSA was already deeply embedded within departmental operations.
Important questions now arise:
What oversight mechanisms existed under her administration?
Were warning signs ignored?
Were governance failures escalated internally?
Did DSAC continue transferring funds despite red flags?
What interventions were made while Minister Nathi Mthethwa was in charge?
If the forensic findings are as serious as reported, then accountability must extend beyond media statements and press conferences.
South Africans deserve answers.
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Image: Tony Kgoroge
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THE MANGAUNG CONFERENCE: CHAOS IN THE NAME OF UNITY
Many artists who attended the CCIFSA Inaugural Conference in Mangaung, Bloemfontein from 21–24 March 2015 still remember the confusion and controversy surrounding the process.
The conference was initially meant to have two statuses:
1. Consultative
2. Elective
However, the conference ultimately became an Elective Conference.
Many delegates witnessed contestations over credentials, mandates, voting procedures and legitimacy.
The leadership elected at the conference was as follows:
CCIFSA Leadership Elected in Mangaung
President: Mr. Tony Kgoroge
Deputy President: Mr. Kobane Gezani (aka Penny Penny)
Secretary General: Mr. Phemelo Sediti
Deputy Secretary: Mr. Zwelibanzi Mdakane
Treasury General: Mr. Dodo Monamodi
National Coordinator: Ms. Andrea Dondolo
Sector Representatives
Indigenous Wisdom: Benjamin Mfaba
Language & Publishing: Professor Cosl Mbele
Performing Arts: Mamela Nyamza
Audio-Visual: David Dale
Cultural & Natural Heritage: Nkosazana Machete
Education & Training: Wiendy Mthembu
Visual Arts & Crafts: Sheryl Msomi
Design, Creative, Arts, Culture & Heritage Services: Siyasanga Sebe
This leadership presided over one of the earliest operational periods of CCIFSA.
The question now becomes unavoidable:
What systems of governance, financial management and accountability were established during their tenure?
Would it not be strategic for Minister Gayton McKenzie to engage this former leadership collective and ask them to publicly account for what happened during their administration?
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Image: Joy Mbewana
THE 2019 LEADERSHIP CHANGE — BUT DID ANYTHING CHANGE?
The above leadership was later removed during the CCIFSA 2nd National Elective Conference held at Ngwenyama Lodge in Mbombela, Mpumalanga from 23–25 August 2019.
Many artists and delegates who attended the conference witnessed the proceedings firsthand.
The newly elected leadership was as follows:
CCIFSA Leadership Elected in Mbombela
President: Joy Mbewana (KZN)
Deputy President: Johannes Msomi (MP)
Secretary General: Ayanda Roda (FS)
Deputy Secretary General: Anele Maki (WC)
Treasure General: Mangaliso Mtshula (NC)
National Coordinator: Luzuko Khohli (EC)
Sector Representatives
Arts Education & Training: Mahlubi Kraal (NW)
Visual Arts & Crafts: Masego Moiloa (NC)
Natural & Cultural Heritage: Hans Kanye (NW)
Audio-Visual: Pinkie Tunywa (EC)
Performance & Celebrations: Vuyokazi Mesilane (WC)
Arts, Culture & Technical Services: Sthembiso Khumalo (KZN)
Design & Creative: Sibusiso Mabuza (MP)
Language & Publishing: Nthabiseng Jafta (FS)
Indigenous Wisdom: Zuko Ntonzima (EC)
Again, despite leadership changes, the same questions persisted across the sector:
Who exactly did CCIFSA represent?
How were funds managed?
Who approved spending?
Why were artists continuously divided?
Why did governance complaints continue for years?
If R51.8 million in public funds is now under forensic scrutiny, then every leadership period must be examined carefully and fairly.
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Image: Minister Gayton McKenzie
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THIS IS BIGGER THAN INDIVIDUALS
The CCIFSA scandal is not merely about individuals. It reflects a much deeper crisis within South Africa’s cultural governance architecture.
For over a decade, artists were promised transformation, unity and empowerment. Yet many creatives remain unemployed, unprotected, underfunded and excluded from meaningful economic participation.
Meanwhile, millions of rands flowed through structures whose governance is now under forensic investigation.
This moment demands more than damage control.
It demands:
- full transparency,
- publication of findings,
- consequence management,
- parliamentary oversight,
and public accountability hearings involving both political and administrative leadership.
Because the real question is no longer whether something went wrong.
The real question is:
Who knew? Who benefited? Who remained silent? And who will finally be held accountable for the R51.8 million?
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