KIMBERLEY – Artists who are playing on the short end of the string have gone on a hunger strike, sleeping in the office of MEC Mrs Desery Lorenda Finies of Sports, Arts & Culture, after the Northern Cape Provincial Treasury cut the department’s budget by R41m.
Thabo Motlabi, an arts practitioner, says the department had promised to make the Northern Cape Theatre operational again and to serve in launching a music and crafts hub for local artists.
He says they were promised an online platform where artists and crafters would be able to showcase and sell their art.
Furthermore, Motlabi says though broadcasters are mandated to play local content, artists from Kimberley and surrounding areas are seemingly excluded and not getting any airtime.
Conrad Fortune, media liaison officer for the department, says funding has been negatively affected after Treasury took back R41m of its budget.
He says there is just not enough money in their budget to cover all bases which include the sports sector and other responsibilities.
In the meantime, Motlabi says they will stay in the MEC’s office until the money is paid back to the department for them to be able to deliver on their promises.
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Correction: in our original article we stated R42m, however, the correct amount is R41m.