MINISTER NATHI MTHETHWA

Dear @NathiMthethwaSA

Thank you for your apology.

It's sad that the whole country had to be horribly outraged by your tweet to bring to your attention that your communication office has no clue of what they are doing.

They do as they please.

It's tragic that you have surrounded yourself with people who have not kept you informed of the reality on the ground.

It appears you are encircled by an elite group of people who have no heart for the majority of their colleagues in the country.

Or, have I gotten this wrong?

Are you simply not listening?

Considering your own history with brutal tragedy in our country, I would imagine you wouldn't want to see another on your watch.

Let me be direct.

We are facing a crisis of untold proportion in the arts, culture and creative industries.

We are witness to something terrible, quite unimaginable, unfolding before our eyes.

Artists and creative industry workers have been without work for almost a year. Many have lost a place of safety to rest, a plate of food on the table, and countless friends, family and peers.

Young artists and creative industry workers are not born to protest, organise unions, go to endless meetings, or write long-extensive proposals to be rejected by your committees.

They are born to create.

They are born to serve the democratic principle of freedom for all.

Artists and creative industry professionals are born to make, produce, innovate, educate, build community in and through the arts.

We are the medicine for a healthy, thriving constitutional democracy.

Our society desperately needs the arts right now.

It is the arts that will help South Africa navigate this treacherous, brutal terrain. The catastrophic pandemic, economic crisis, disease of corruption, unending political conflict leave us at an extremely dangerous cliff edge.

Surely, we should all be working together to live?

Artists and creative industry professionals are resilient, innovative, humane, and deeply committed to building a better future.

But, things are so bad that we are watching an entire community, a workforce that produces work, that contributes toward the GDP, literally implode.

And, so Minister @NathiMthethwaSA, I have a few questions that would help me better understand:

1. Who are you listening to? We are a complex, highly differentiated sector that spans arts and culture, creative industries, arts education, applied arts, and arts therapies.

2. Why does everyone think that all your department does is give funding out? Are you simply a funding instrument?

3. Is there a national strategic plan for this new era we live in? If so, who did you consult?

4. What has your department done to ensure WiFi access and data coverage for young and older artists and creative industry workers, particularly in poor townships and remote rural areas?

Democracy is dependent on WiFi access for ALL.

Health safety is dependent ACCESS.

5. What has your department been doing to ensure the training and upskilling of ALL arts-based professionals in digital literacy and media? Giving the necessary skills for artists and creative industry workers to translate their skills into online platforms would ensure safety.

6. What initiatives has your department facilitated to bring different, diverse stakeholders and networks together to build systems of support for ALL artists?

7. Your department says it is working on an Artists Wellness Program. Who have you consulted and enlisted to do this extremely complex work? Are you aware that there is only one legal body, namely SANATA, that represents arts wellness and arts therapies in South Africa?

8. Why is your department engaging in decision-making without broad, genuine consultation, authentic representation of all existing bodies, and legally qualified experts?

What is happening in the arts sector is a Marikana and a Life Esidimeni in unbearable painful slow motion.

I write in my personal capacity.

I write because I care deeply about all my peers, colleagues, former students, present students.

I write because I live for the art of all, regardless of whether they are your cadres or critics.

I write because of life.

So, Minister @NathiMthethwaSA, I sense your genuine recognition of your deeply offensive tweet. Yes, I accept your apology, but I remain steadfast in my resolve that we have reached a point of no return.

Can you hear the rage of all invisible, disempowered, betrayed arts voices?

Can you hear the pain young artists feel when they want to stay home to keep their elders safe, but have to risk their own lives and the lives of others, in the desperate search for food?

We can do better than this.

We are so much better than this.

Turn to all my colleagues, peers, friends in the arts, arts education, applied arts, arts therapies and creative industry. Your answer is right in front of you.

We are an extraordinary community.

Listen. Act. Now.

Or, stand aside.

May you and all concerned, may we and all concerned, stay safe and healthy.

May we all drink the medicine of the arts and heal.

Yours sincerely,

Warren Nebe

#NathiMustGo
#ArtsMatter
#Covid19InSA
@PresidencyZA @SportArtsCultur @Newzroom405