Minister Gayton McKenzie’s funding cuts leave South Africa's arts festivals struggling for survival
Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie’s funding cuts one year ago leave South Africa's arts festivals fighting for survival as they confront ongoing financial difficulties.
Image: File
One year after Sports, Arts and Culture minister Gayton McKenzie slashed funding for key arts festivals, the sector remains in turmoil.
With the scars of the Covid-19 lockdown still fresh, industry professionals warn that these cuts have intensified their struggles, pushing many to the brink of financial ruin.
Since time immemorial, festivals entertained audiences and provided a stage for Mzansi's thespians, alongside seasonal work for thousands of people — an entire ecosystem that has now been pulled out from under them.
This as productions increasingly trim their casts to save money.
Adding insult to injury, McKenzie last week dissolved the board of the National Arts Council, the statutory body responsible for supporting and promoting the arts in SA.
The seeds of the crisis were sown shortly after McKenzie took office mid-2024, juxtaposing his department's treatment of the arts with its support for sport.
And while festivals such as the National Arts Festival, the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees and Cape Town International Jazz Festival struggled to keep the show on the road, McKenzie continued to back major sporting events.
He even announced on Sunday that all six players who narrowly missed out on Hugo Broos’ final 26-man Bafana Bafana squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will travel to Mexico to witness the team’s opening Group A match against co-hosts Mexico at the iconic Estadio Azteca on June 11.
Soon after taking office as part of the Government of National Unity, McKenzie scrapped the long-standing funding model that had supported established national arts festivals for years.
"The defunding of popular, long running arts festivals by the sports, arts, and culture department remains a matter of grave concern," Jack Devnarain, actor and SA Guild of Actors chair, said.
It is an organisation representing actors in the film, television, stage, commercials and corporate sectors.
"There has never been a satisfactory justification for this disruption, and industry bodies naturally demand answers.
"Festival administrators have worked hard at building trust in their events, and if the department seeks to implement sweeping changes, this should be done in consultation with industry bodies.
"Our creative outputs cannot be held ransom by government, while they simultaneously lavish us with praise when we win international accolades."
McKenzie last year announced, with much fanfare, that taxpayer money should not indefinitely support these events and that legacy festivals needed to learn to "stand on their own feet" and find corporate sponsors instead.
While he told organisers to apply for one-off grants through the Mzansi Golden Economy fund, this plan fell apart because the fund was never designed to handle large, multi-day festivals.
Athol Fugard's 'Boesman en Lena' at the KKNK in Oudtshoorn. Vinette Ebrahim was a cast member in this iconic production.
Image: LIZA VAN DEVENTER
Veteran television and theatre actress Vinette Ebrahim said the sudden funding cuts have put the entire creative sector into a state of panic.
"I do feel terribly sorry for the people and festivals that genuinely depend on that funding," she said.
Ebrahim, known for her role as Charmaine Meintjies in 7de Laan and now seen as Nenna Abrahams in Kelders van Geheime, did not mince her words when asked about McKenzie's handling of arts funding.
"I do not think he [McKenzie] knows what he is doing," she said.
"I think he is a very foolish man and to be quite honest, I do not have words for him.
She added: "My biggest disappointment, however, is that there is still an imbalance when it comes to funding.
Alexa Strachan, CEO of the Aardklop National Arts Festival, explained getting the department's ear has always been an uphill battle, especially since McKenzie took over.
Aardklop is one of SA's largest arts festivals, held annually in Potchefstroom in the North West.
Artist Sibongile Mngoma
Image: OUPA MOKOENA
When McKenzie took the reins, hopes were high that he would breathe new life into the struggling sector.
Today, entertainers said his alleged neglect was still leaving local artists completely out in the cold.
According to figures presented to the National Assembly, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival generated around R900m for the Western Cape economy, supporting over 5 000 jobs.
Stellenbosch Woordfees reached over 250 000 schools and 270 000 learners annually.
Suidoosterfees sustained more than 4 000 jobs and hosted a junior festival for 8 000 schoolchildren.
Industry leaders and watchdog groups said the festival cancellations had cost local economies close to R1bn.
They said the cancellations meant fewer tourists, less business for hotels and restaurants, and a loss of income for vendors who depended on the events just to make a living.
According to a written reply by Western Cape cultural affairs and sport MEC Ricardo Mackenzie, the provincial government financially supported this year's Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK).
Mackenzie said the festival did not receive national funding in 2025 after the application process was scrapped and restarted, leaving KKNK unable to reapply before the event took place.
Despite this, he said KKNK generated an estimated R72m to R89m for the Oudtshoorn economy and between R161m and R178m across the Western Cape.
The festival also created 781 jobs and a further 142 participation and exposure opportunities, bringing the total number of opportunities supported by the event to 923.
Cape Town Carnival CEO Jay Douwes said the withdrawal was devastating.
"In a country grappling with unemployment, inequality, and disconnection, the Carnival provides an avenue for hope, economic impact, but most importantly social cohesion," Douwes said.
Douwes said the carnival played a major role in creating jobs and supporting small businesses.