President Cyril Ramaphosa authorises investigation of Limpopo’s Mapungubwe Arts Festival

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed six new and two amended proclamations authorising the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration among those is the Mapungubwe Arts, Culture and Heritage Festival.

The SIU made the announcement on Friday which confirmed the investigation of the 2016/2017 financial year Mapungubwe Arts, Culture and Heritage Festival.

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Mapungubwe festival

The festival celebrates cultural heritage through exhibitions, plays and dramas and includes a gospel and jazz festival.

Last year, before the 2023 instalment of the festival, the Limpopo Artists Movement spoke with disgruntlement about then-MEC for Sports, Arts and Culture Nakedi Kekana.

LAM provincial chairman Mphoza Mashabela told Daily Sun they wanted to boycott the 2023 Mapungubwe Festival because they were repeating the same line-up. He denied that he was also booked for that festival.

“We are not happy with this department at all. We want new people in the management of the festival,” he said. Mashabela felt that the MEC and the Department had undermined the interests of Limpopo artists.

The current MEC for Sports, Arts and Culture in Limpopo is Funani Jerry Maseko.

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More investigations

Proclamation 192 of 2024 authorises the SIU to investigate maladministration in three areas in the Limpopo Department of Sports, Arts and Culture and recover any loss the department or state has suffered.

The investigation will also focus on irregular staff appointments by the Department within five districts, namely Waterberg, Sekhukhune, Vhembe, Capricorn and Mopani. It will also look at irregular payments, including for services not rendered.

“The probe will also examine whether the payments for these contracts adhered to national treasury guidelines and ascertain whether the payments were irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditures or financial losses for the department or the state,” averred the SIU’s statement.

“The Proclamation covers allegations of unlawful and improper conduct between 1 January 2011 and 4 October 2024.

Related activities before 1 January 2011, after the date of the Proclamation, that are pertinent to the matters under investigation or involve the same persons, entities, or contracts will also be scrutinised.

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