Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan has dissolved the board of the National Arts Council (NAC) with effect from December 14, he announced on Monday.
Jordan’s office said in a statement that he and the board have mutually agreed after ”amicable discussions” in November that the current board members will resign their positions from December 1 to create space for the minister to reconstitute a new board with a fresh mandate.
”In accordance with the spirit of the meeting of November 16, the minister’s office has received four letters of resignation from the board.
”But it would appear that certain members of the board changed their minds. Consequently, on the morning of November 17 2004 the ministry received a letter from a Cape Town firm of attorneys, purporting to be acting on behalf of the board of National Arts Council.
”The tenor of the letter was that the members of the board of the NAC were not resigning and if the minister proceeded to dissolve the NAC, they would take legal action.
”This suggests that it is a group among the board members who briefed the Cape Town attorneys and not the entire NAC collective, let alone all the participants in the meeting of November 16.”
Jordan has since consulted the members of the executive councils of the nine provinces regarding the future of the NAC.
Based on these consultations, he is satisfied that the NAC as presently constituted has lost the confidence of the arts community and is not in a position to carry out the responsibilities assigned to it.
”Consequently, the minister has decided to employ his powers in terms of Section 5 (5) of the National Arts Council Act … to dissolve the NAC, effective as of December 14 2004.”
An interim CEO will be appointed on contract for an agreed time frame that will not extend beyond April 30 next year.
Between December 14 and April 30, the governance and accounting authority of the NAC will reside with the Department of Arts and Culture.
A process to nominate and appoint a new board will start immediately.
”No one will be disqualified from nomination by reason of having served on the now-dissolved NAC board or on the interim structures that will oversee the transition,” the statement said. — Sapa