Centres struggle to stay afloat
R4m worth of funds diverted to other NPOS leaves more than 17 entities battling to keep their programmes going
ART centres in Durban are struggling to stay afloat because of a lack of funds.
It is believed that the financial woes began last year when ethekwini Municipality diverted about R4 million that was reserved for the centres to other NPOS.
About 17 organisations have been affected by the lack of funding, including the African Art Centre, The Bat Centre, the KZN Society for the Arts, the KZN United Music Industry Association and the Wushwini Pan African Art Centre.
These centres, among other things, run programmes to develop and promote youth who don’t have money, skills or access to do it on their own.
Some centres were forced to suspend their programmes, as they could not afford to pay staff and artists.
Jerry Pooe, founder and managing director of Wushwini Pan African Centre, said it suffered the most as it is located in a rural area. It is based in Ngcolosi, near Hillcrest. The centre focuses on nurturing talent in music, drama and visual art.
“It’s a poverty-stricken area where a large percentage of the community is unemployed. We have to provide everything for artists. We were struggling to pay our staff and as a result, had to suspend some of our training.
“We hope that the municipality will assist us with funding, these young people have nobody to help them. We will continue to put pressure on the municipality with hopes that we will get something,” said Pooe.
Nise Malange, managing director of The Bat Centre, on Margaret Mncadi Avenue (Victoria Embankment), shared Pooe’s sentiments. She said they had also closed their music programmes.
The centre focuses on observing the quality of the arts displayed by local artists within the city.
“We run various programmes, including mentorship but, unfortunately, we had to stop some of them in September because we could not afford it.
“We reserved the municipality’s funding for jazz music. This is the only centre that has been able to hire jazz artists and groom them, but we have been unable to do this.
“It’s sad that we no longer host our Sunday jazz music which also affects tourism. Tourists still come here, hoping that there will be music like there used to be,” said Malange.
Thembelani Gumede, DA community services committee member, said the city had promised to cover the R4m shortfall. But the city did not say how or when this would be done.
“Many organisations have said they can’t afford to stay open much longer without the money. This move clearly shows that the city has lost focus on ordinary people,” said Gumede.
The city’s head of Parks, Recreation and Culture unit, Thembinkosi Ngcobo, who had previously told creative arts organisations not to rely on government funding to survive, said the city would intervene.
He said he had prepared a report which would be presented before the committee and would outline how the unit will address the challenges.
“I’m hopeful that once the report is discussed, the council will resolve the situation. The recommendations will end the situation and everyone will be happy,” said Ngcobo.