Arts council in funding ‘ scam ’

‘ FAKE PROPOSAL ’ AT CENTRE OF ROW

SA ROADIES Association president Freddie Nyathela is taking the National Arts Council to task for what he calls “unfairness and injustice” after it rejected a funding proposal by the association, which does technical production skills development.

Nyathela wants answers after an unknown person submitted a “fake funding proposal ”, attributed to the association, to the NAC without his knowledge. The fake proposal, he said, later affected their genuine submission.

He said his original proposal, which he submitted in July last year for flagship funding, made a request for R920 000 for staging and lighting equipment. He claims the fake proposal was not defined but requested R350 000 funding.

Nyathela said he became aware of the fake proposal after receiving an e-mail on December 5 from the NAC turning down the association’s funding due to lack of supporting documents. “They stated that we did not submit some documents, including tax clearance. We challenged them because we knew they were making an error,” he said. But the council has distanced itself from Nyathela’s allegations. “Neither the CEO nor the organisation is aware of a ‘ fake proposal’ as referred to by Mr Nyathela,” it said.

The agency said Nyathela ’ s proposal was unsuccessful because he did not comply with its funding criteria.

However, Nyathela said he met CEO of the NAC, Rosemary Mangope, board chairwoman Angie Makwetla and projects head Julie Diphofa at SARA House in February and the NAC admitted to making an error when it turned down the real proposal. “After promising to look at our proposal they still turned down the real proposal,” he said.

Nyathela accused the NAC of failing to grant funding on merit. He charged that there was “misconduct and dishonesty ” at the NAC.

He has escalated the matter to the Department of Arts and Culture.

The department’s spokeswoman, Lisa Combrink, said: “The DAC has noted with concern the allegations of a fraudulent proposal submitted to the NAC on behalf of the South African Roadies Association (SARA). As is the standard practice with regard to complaints from members of the public with regard to DAC and public entity activities, the matter has been referred to the department’s internal audit unit for review and possible investigation.”

They stated that we did not submit some documents