The future of three board members suspended last year by the National Arts Council (NAC) remains unclear despite a recent report that effectively exculpates them of serious misconduct. Procedural matters, which arose during last week’s board meeting to decide their fate, prevented any consensus from being reached. The Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) now needs to respond before a decision can be made.
That is the latest twist in a saga triggered by the suspension in November last year of CEO Doreen Nteta, chief financial officer Kiren Isvarlal and programme manager André le Roux.
The trio was variously accused by NAC staff of serious charges including fraud, corruption, mismanagement and other irregularities.
However, only two relatively minor charges out of 21 allegations have stuck in a recent report compiled by advocate Ismail Semenya.
Following a disciplinary hearing, he found Nteta guilty of one charge of early encashment of leave from a list of 13 allegations against her. The same charge stuck to Isvarlal while the other five against him were dismissed. Both charges carried warning letters.
The two charges against Le Roux were dropped. When contacted by the Mail & Guardian, Le Roux expressed a desire to see the case come to a head as soon as possible for the sake of the suspended trio and the arts sector. He declined to comment further.
The disciplinary hearing was, in turn, triggered by the findings of a forensic audit conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers following the initial allegations.
However, this investigation now appears to have been compromised.
Both Semenya and lawyers for the NAC concede that PricewaterhouseCoopers did not have access to all the documents it required to make a full assessment of the situation at the time.
Lawyers have advised the NAC to accept Semenya’s findings. The DAC is expected to do the same. If the board follows this advice, Isvarlal and Le Roux should be offered their jobs back. Nteta’s contract, which expires at the end of September, would be left to lapse.
Professor Itumeleng Mosala, Director General of the DAC, conceded that the approach of the investigation erred by focusing on individuals instead of managerial issues within the organisation itself. But he was excited by the findings because it exonerated the board members.
He said: ‘[The investigative process] has been worthwhile. We have been able to find out that there is nothing wrong. It may have taken time and money but if we had not investigated, we would never have known.”
However, the denouement is something of an anticlimax. For one thing, reliable sources estimate that between R3-million and R4-million has been spent following up allegations that have amounted to little.
That figure includes the combined salaries of the suspended three board members, legal and professional fees, and the significant cost of getting board members together for extraordinary meetings.
This money should be accounted for by an administrative allowance in the NAC’s financial reports. However, the budget — due for approval in March — has not yet been authorised by the board and so no confirmation on the cost is available.
And while the NAC is embroiled in its own crisis, the artists it is supposed to serve are suffering from funding delays. Tribhangi Dance Theatre, for instance, received three-year funding from the minister’s budget. Tribhangi has been waiting since June for clarification on its latest funding application under new Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan.
Jayesperi Moopen, Tribhangi’s artistic director, says about 20 other companies are in the same position. She blames the hierarchical structure of the NAC for communication failures that leave artists in the lurch.
Moopen says: ‘We are in a stalemate situation. We don’t know where we stand and where to go from here. We really just want to be told so we can plan ahead. Someone is dragging their heels and not making decisions.”
She believes it is unfair of the NAC to treat artists this way. ‘The whole NAC needs to be restructured, and clear-cut policies and structures must be put in place. A new organisation will have teething problems but they have had enough time. The state of the arts must be thought about.”
The Performing Arts Network of South Africa last week said late funding had prejudiced numerous projects, cancelled others and compromised many artists.
It called for an independent investigation into the governance and management of the NAC, a complete overhaul of the organisation and an analysis of the complicity of the department in the whole affair.
Should the DAC have stepped in earlier? In November last year Nteta wrote to Mosala to ask him to intervene. Nteta warned the department of internal rifts and irregularities that threatened to destroy the NAC and asked for intervention. She also made counter-allegations against two members of the NAC’s executive committee days before her suspension. Mosala said these allegations would be reviewed once the disciplinary process regarding Nteta was completed.
The largest group of arts organisations in the country — the Network for Arts and Culture South Africa (Nacsa) — also sounded the alarm. It appealed to the parliamentary committee on arts in November to intervene immediately and effectively in the interests of the arts. Nacsa believed the allegations and counter-allegations between management and some board members represented a threat to the reputation and integrity of the NAC. It gave the portfolio committee a list of recommendations that called for a suspension of the chairperson and deputy chairperson and an independent inquiry into allegations.
The department’s general response throughout was to allow the NAC board the independence to resolve its problems internally.
This approach has met criticism for contradicting legislative changes made in 2001. These allowed the minister to appoint the chairperson and gave him or her powers to dissolve the board, which arguably brought the two organisations closer together.
Two more board members resigned this month, pushing the tally of resignations over the past year to four. Charles Mabaso, who until September 2 held the chair for multidisciplinary and musical theatre, is the latest board member to throw in the towel.
Although he told the M&G his reasons were largely personal, his resignation letter emphasised communication problems between the executive committee and other board members. Mabaso’s resignation followed shortly after the departure of Nicki du Plessis. Two other board members, Jill Trappler and John Kani, also resigned last year.
Japan Mthembu, a member of the NAC’s executive committee, expressed concern about the resignations. However, he said communication problems were largely a matter of perception. Despite this, communication issues are on the agenda for October’s board meeting.
PricewaterhouseCoopers also recommended in its audit that the assistant manager of arts development and development officers responsible for assessing projects for funding also face disciplinary action. It found that 153 of 167 project applications reviewed did not meet the relevant criteria.
Any one of the suspended members could sue the NAC for damage to their reputations. Nteta’s suspension, in particular, sent shockwaves through the global arts community because was vice-chairperson for the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies.
The council wants to discuss the problems at next month’s meeting and has instigated communication updates between members. Once the DAC has provided its feedback, the board will make public its decision to accept or reject the findings. If the findings are rejected, the only recourse is to the courts for a review.