Sport, Arts and Culture Dept negotiates early hurdles in Relief Fund assistance
Relief Fund assistance in the sector is capped at R20 000 per individual applicant, the minister confirmed
The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture is looking at ways to speed up the disbursement of relief funds to athletes, artists and technical personnel.
“We have not moved as fast as we can in allocating these funds, and as a result we have improved our mechanisms to fast-track the process,” the Minister, Nathi Mthethwa said during a ministerial briefing held earlier on Monday. He said technical glitches were experienced in the beginning of the process, but the department has addressed these challenges. Mthethwa said after the national state of disaster was announced on 15 March, the department held a consultative meeting with the sport and creative sector.
“We made the point at the time that the sector is going to be the hardest hit by the pandemic since the necessary measures to curb the spread of the virus were detrimental to the sector.”
On 25 March, the R150 million Relief Fund was announced to assist artists, athletes, technical personnel and the core ecosystem of the sector, he said. The other part of this fund was open to proposals for livestreaming the work of creatives and athletes, particularly, inter-generational cooperation between younger artists and the legends.
The deadline for application from the Relief Fund was 6 April, after which independent adjudication committees were established. The minister emphasised that the Relief Fund assistance is capped at R20 000 per individual applicant.
By 23 April, more than 300 applications had been received for financial relief, and the disbursement of relief funds to successful applicants began. A day later, 93 successful applicants received their relief funds. “Once more in the sporting sector, after re-submission of applications were referred back to the federations, a total of 473 applications were received from 25 sporting federations,” the minister said.
In terms of arts and culture, the number adjudicated upon is 1 050: 232 applications were recommended; 603 were not recommended; 203 were referred to the department and 12 digital applications were moved to the National Film and Video Foundation.
Mthethwa cited the biggest reasons for applicant non-compliance in terms of qualifying for relief funds, as missing documents, attachments which were not completed, a lack of contract documents, and no proof of events. Applicants who were not recommended have the option to approach the appeals committee.
The minister said the department would meet with the sector, specifically key national organisations, on Wednesday, to see how financial assistance could be rendered speedily to those who qualify, especially those from disadvantaged communities.
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