A Reflection on Minister Gayton McKenzie’s CCI Sector Clusters Narrative On 4 March 2026 , the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture hosted a media briefing at Freedom Park in Pretoria where Minister Gayton McKenzie and Deputy Minister Peace Mabe addressed several matters within the department’s portfolio. The agenda included issues such as VAR, WAFCON, LIV Golf, Formula 1, the National Language Summit, Robben Island, the Venice Biennale, and the launch of Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) Sector Clusters. However, one thing became immediately clear during the briefing: approximately 90% of the discussion centred on sport , leaving Arts and Culture to occupy the margins of the conversation. For a department tasked equally with the stewardship of Sport, Arts and Culture , the imbalance was not just noticeable—it was symbolic. For those working within the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) , the most striking moment came when the Minister attempted to explain the rationale...

  FRIDAY EDITION | PODCAST / MULTIMEDIA  IS ART POLITICS, OR HAS POLITICS MASTERED THE ART? By Thami akaMbongo Manzana.        Let us stop pretending. In South Africa, art has always been political. But what we are witnessing today forces us to ask a far more disturbing question: Has politics mastered the art of performance so well that we can no longer tell conviction from convenience? To understand this moment, one must revisit a parliamentary episode that shook the Cultural and Creative Industries. At the centre of it was Liam Jacobs, then a Member of Parliament for the Democratic Alliance (DA), relentlessly questioning Minister Gayton McKenzie and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) on the National Arts Council (NAC) adjudication and board processes. Liam Jacobs did not whisper. He did not flatter. He confronted. Central to the interrogation was the National Arts Council (NAC) Board and adjudication processes , particularly conce...

  Image: The Creative Passport Online Media Logo FRIDAY EDITION |  PODCAST / MULTIMEDIA  MZANSI GOLDEN ECONOMY (MGE) – THE NPO CERTIFICATE DILEMMA If you are an artist, cultural worker, producer, company director, or anyone operating within South Africa’s Cultural and Creative Industries, this is not just another policy conversation — this is about access, exclusion, and accountability. We are urging you to revisit this episode because it addresses an issue that continues to quietly shape who gets funded, who gets excluded, and who is left explaining themselves to a system that refuses to explain its own decisions. Image: MGE Logo (Source: DSAC)  WHY THIS EPISODE MATTERS The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) has faced sustained backlash from the sector over the MGE requirement for an NPO Certificate, a requirement administered by the Deppartment of Social Development — not CIPC. This becomes a problem because: A. Many creative entities operate as NPC...