Artists and other creative workers could soon enjoy the benefits of a social-security scheme, the Creative Workers’ Union of South Africa (CWUSA) said on Thursday.
It is hoped that the scheme will be launched in September next year, the CWUSA’s general secretary, Oupa Lebogo, told reporters in Johannesburg. The scheme will include funeral cover, medical aid and short-term insurance.
The CWUSA, formed in 2005 by a merger between the Musicians’ Union of South Africa and the Performing Arts Workers’ Equity, currently has 2 000 paid-up members.
Lebogo said the scheme will be aimed at ”grassroots artists”. It is, however, hoped that high-earning artists will encourage low earners to join by becoming members.
CWUSA president Mabutho Sithole said members of the scheme need to be members of an artists’ union, to prevent those who earn ”petty cash” from the industry from becoming members.
”It’s important to define who falls into our category. We’ve identified those whose livelihood depends solely, or at least 80%, on the creative industry.”
The scheme will entail a public-private partnership between the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the South African Music Rights Organisation, Business and Arts SA and the Department of Arts and Culture, among others.
SABC spokesperson Kaiser Kganyago said: ”Everybody that works with us has to be empowered.”
Tale Motsepe, director of cultural development in the Department of Arts and Culture, said efforts in 2002 and 2004 to set up such a scheme had been hampered by a lack of commitment and resources — and because the industry was seen as a ”risk factor” by potential corporate sponsors.
Fernando Ladrio and Nancy Ndou, of the band Big Stars, said they will not be able to pay regular contributions to a social-security scheme as they do not have regular work. ”They must get jobs for us so we can get money to pay them,” they said.
The CWUSA is an affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions. The union federation’s spokesperson Patrick Craven said: ”We hope that this initiative will be a model for all workers so that nobody should be left to die in poverty.”
The scheme is an attempt to act on recommendations in 2001 by a music industry task team, set up by Ben Ngubane, the arts and culture minister at the time. — Sapa