‘The minister has blocked me for exposing his hypocrisy,’ says Sara president

The President of the South African Roadies Association (Sara) has accused Minister of Sports Arts and Culture (DSAC) Gayton McKenzie of playing to the gallery and turning a blind eye to corruption in his department.

“The minister has blocked me for exposing his hypocrisy of turning a blind eye and not acting (saying anything) against rampant fraud and corruption at the department as confirmed in the minutes of the meeting between the Portfolio Committee and the office of the auditor-general on 23 July 2024,” Sara President Freddie Nyathela told The Citizen.

Formed in 1992 and registered in 1995, Sara is a non-profit training organisation dedicated to the advancement and development of skills and knowledge amongst the youth in the technical and production sectors in South Africa and further afield.

Nyathela has blamed McKenzie for disregarding his Oath of Office and Section 16 of the Bill of Rights.

Minister @SportArtsCultur Gayton McKenzie should provide evidence of the open letters… and stop peddling lies… about @SARoadies1 and @nyathelaf disrespecting his oath of office to shield rampant corruption. @PresidencyZA @PublicProtector @ParliamentofRSA @City_Press pic.twitter.com/r2O8H6um3K

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— Freddie Nyathela (@nyathelaf) October 8, 2024

“The Minister is deliberately discriminating against Sara and deliberately denying Sara an opportunity to be heard, Sara has requested a meeting with the minister and invited him to visit and tour Sara House to no avail.”

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DSAC’s alleged corruption

At the centre of Nyathela’s allegations against the DSAC is the setting up of Backstage South Africa.

Backstage South Africa is a collaboration between one of the world’s leading live events and technical production schools, the UK’s Back Stage Academy and Sara.

This collaboration, once implemented would see such a school offering education to youth in South Africa, whose curriculum offering ranges from short courses of a few months up to long courses of many years up to a Master’s degree level.

In 2019, Backstage Academy in the UK welcomed a VIP delegation of South African dignitaries from the DSAC to their campus at Production Park in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

Led by then director general of the DSAC Vusumuzi Mkhize, the delegation spent four days in the UK visiting Production Park and meeting with key stakeholders to gain an understanding of how Backstage Academy was formed and developed into the institution it is today.

In 2022, a Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Sara and the DSAC with the government committing to fund the establishment of the school to the tune of R18 519 060.

We warned you as EFF not to rely on officials for the truth but to do your due diligence but you ignored the warning, they now have exposed you that you do not know what is happening in your department like they lied about SARA, I have all the facts about SARA, you must bring… pic.twitter.com/PIgcjErvVJ

— Simply Eugene (@EugeneMt) October 17, 2024

However, according to the Sara President, the organisation has only received the first batch of R8 720 000 for the 2022/2023 financial year.

The MoU, which The Citizen is also in possession of, is dated to have been signed on 25 July 2022 by Nyathela and Mkhize, who was still the director general at the DSAC at the time.

“The department and its deputy director general for Arts, Culture Promotion and Development Unit, Dr Cynthia Khumalo, who has been the acting director-general, have breached the attached signed especially clause 6.10.,” averred Nyathela.

The aforementioned clause speaks to the reporting obligations, time frames and agreed time periods for the completion of the project.

Nyathela claims that Sara compiled the required reports that were agreed upon in the MoU but said Khumalo, the DSAC’s acting director-general, refused to release more funds to Sara.

“This unfortunate conduct is driven by abuse of power, disregard for the constitution and jealousy,” said an aggrieved Nyathela.

Nyathela said the matter is currently with the public protector and the Portfolio Committee on the DSAC.

“Sara has also approached the Department of Higher Education and Training for support,” said the Sara president.

The DSAC’s communication team had agreed to answer The Citizen’s questions but did not meet their requested deadline.

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Missed opportunity

Sara has spent the past 16 years enabling young skills and capacities in the lighting, sound, staging, power, rigging and AV sectors through both the SAQA-accredited Skills Education and Training Authority (Seta) training courses it has run, as well as through its Entry Level On-The-Job Training Program.

“The conduct of the department has and is still depriving the African youth access to the much-needed technical ‘live technology’ skills and employment opportunities, and a better future for the entire nation.”

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