The circus seems to provide work for ballerinas who didn’t quite make it to the Moscow Ballet, and who had to settle for dancing between various trapeze and magic acts. Post-Olympics gymnasts, who have gone to seed a little, also seem to have found a home in the circus, along with showy Russian cowboys and cool Chinese tightrope walkers.
I couldn’t help but think of a local circus providing work too, perhaps as part of an innovative public works programme. It’s a pity that circuses no longer have canons that launch people into lower-Shuttleworth orbit, for that would have been a more appropriate way to fire the recalcitrant members of the NAC board who refused to resign. And we could do it over and over again, just so they get the message ”You’re fired!!”.
Apparently, one of the chief NAC clowns, on hearing that the board had been fired, contacted the NAC offices and requested that more than R90 000 be transferred to the account of a lawyer in Cape Town so that they could fight the minister’s decision in court. He was scheduled to present his case on national radio the next day, but then the clown turned into a magician and did a vanishing trick, hopefully never to be seen on the board of a publicly-funded institution again!
Considering the adverse effects the board has had on the arts in the past 18 months, being fired means they got off pretty lightly. And did the minister really mean it when he indicated that all the board members would be welcome to be nominated again? Surely not! Why bother to fire them then?
Before there can be real closure on this matter, an independent investigation must be done into how the NAC was managed during the tenure of the previous board, and whether public resources were misappropriated or not. And, to repeat, if there is evidence of corruption or self-enrichment, as has been alleged, then those who are guilty must be charged with the same vigour with which they pursued allegations against the former CEO.
This is an opportunity for the minister to break the culture of the Ben Ngubane-era, during which serious allegations were made against individuals in high positions and investigations revealed real cause for concern, but there were cover-ups and — depressingly — the individuals resurfaced later in other senior positions in the arts.
Circus performers don’t get paid much, but they do have relatively long contracts and they do get to see the world. So, it’s very much like being part of a cast of Cats. At the moment, for the average South African artist, job security means doing a bit of work behind a trellidor.
Having a year or two of work, visiting foreign cities such as Toronto, Turin and Tokyo, and earning enough to maintain a habit of at least one good meal a day, sounds like an attractive option to members of companies still waiting to hear whether they will receive core funding or not.
While in Tokyo, one could catch up with the former minister and tell him that one had to join the circus largely because of the legacy he had bequeathed to the arts. Excellent, professional artists struggle to find secure work. Mediocre politicians who mess up badly, get ambassadorial postings.
Excellent, professional staff are leaving the arts and culture department too. Mediocre managers are protected. Staff presented a list of grievances and urged the director general to take action against a senior manager. But, for months, nothing happened, despite promises to the contrary.
Recently the staff toyi-toyed at the director general’s office, demanding action. Then the staff were given letters to move to another building, but the senior manager remains in place. The circus may change its location, but the ringmasters stay the same.