On the 15 January, Minister of Sport, Arts & Culture, Nathi Mthethwa tweeted “South African theatre is alive and well with performing arts institutions of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture such as @ArtscapeTheatre, @MarketTheatre, @PACOFS3, @DurbanPlayhouse, @statetheatre and @WindybrowTheatr (sic) offering an array of indigenous drama and dance etc.”
Yet artists in the industry beg to differ as they call for his removal and started the #NathiMustGO online petition demanding for the Ministers resignation by the end of the month. If he doesn’t resign, they call upon President Cyril Ramaphosa to replace him in February.
/4 Failing this, we call upon President Ramaphosa to replace Mr Mthethwa in February 2021.
— Warren Nebe (@WarrenNebe) January 19, 2021
A petition, drafted by artists, requesting the removal of the Minister of Sport, Arts & Culture following his inability to deal with how COVID has impacted our sector.#NathiMustGo https://t.co/gEYLLfHJTH
— Lebogang Mashile (@lebomashile) January 20, 2021
Also expressing that the offensive tweet is one of the many encounters that reflect their long experience with the minister as “incompetent”, “aloof”, “out of touch” and said to be the “Minister of Congratulations and Condolences”.
/8… in the country and underscores his lack of understanding of, and empathy with the enormous losses within the arts sector over the last ten months.
We wake up almost daily to reports of artists – including many theatre and dance practitioners – having succumbed to COVID-19
— Warren Nebe (@WarrenNebe) January 19, 2021
Following this, Minister Nathi Mthethwa issued an apology noting that “Although arts and culture practitioners are among the most brutally impacted by the devastating pandemic, they are a source of pride and inspiration and have not hesitated to dig deep within themselves to continue to create, to entertain and to comfort our nation in these trying times.”
https://twitter.com/MasechabaNdlovu/status/1352139602220494848
DJ Ankletap and Kandis Kardashian of #YMornings spoke to two of the #NathiMustGO founding members- Rehabilitation expert, Sibongile Mngoma and Theatre director & Founder of the Wits Drama for Life, Warren Nebe.
The industry greats weighed in on how they received the apology and the way forward:
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