The plethora of complaints regarding the Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) saga has attracted the attention of parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), which wants the matter to be probed.
Joe McGluwa,chairperson of the committee, told Sunday World that the MGE debacle will be at the top of their agenda when parliament reconvenes in the first week of September.
Speaking exclusively to Sunday World, McGluwa did not hold back.
“We’ve received a number of disturbing complaints from various organisations regarding the MGE.
Alleged dodgy companies funded
“These include repeated funding to the same companies, newly registered entities receiving money, and serious compliance issues. We are aware of these problems, and we all agree they can no longer be ignored.
“We’ve also proposed a programme for the third and fourth terms, and MGE will be part of it. It will go to parliamentarians for the portfolio committee’s approval. I strongly believe there’s a need to meet with all the role players, including DSAC. This will allow us to hear all sides of the story.”
This follows a scathing letter sent to parliament by outraged artists. In it they are pleading for intervention and flatly rejecting the MGE funding outcomes.
“Township and rural creatives are being deliberately side-lined. We submitted all required documents and met every criterion. Yet we were thrown out without explanation,” reads the letter in part.
William Mafumbu, a cultural leader, also expressed disappointment.
No transparency
“The system is rigged in favour of big-city festivals and well-connected organisations. This while grassroots projects get ghosted with cold, copy-paste rejection emails. There’s no transparency, no accountability. Just recycled funding to the usual suspects, while the rest of us are left to rot.”
He added that they are now demanding a full, independent probe into the MGE process. This is including a detailed breakdown of who got funded, where they’re based, and when their companies were registered.
De-registered companies funded
“We want answers. We want justice. And we want the money flow halted until this mess is cleaned up. We’ve been engaging DSAC but have received no joy. These rejections aren’t mistakes, they’re systematic. We know the truth. And this ends now,” said Mafumbu.
Just last month, DSAC Minister Gayton McKenzie announced that 152 applications had been approved.
But a closer look raised serious concerns. Among the approved were deregistered companies, newly formed entities, and groups with no visible arts activity.
DSAC was contacted for comment, but, true to form, they remained silent.
