This latest development in the saga was revealed by spokesperson for the office of the Free State Premier, Sello Pietersen. 

The Premier, Sisi Ntombela, paid a visit to the centre on Tuesday 16 March, to meet with disgruntled artists who are in the midst of a week-long sit-in at the premises, demonstrating against the alleged unfair treatment they have received from Pacofs management. 

Pietersen, tells OFM News that Ntombela telephonically engaged with Mthethwa over the course of Monday and Tuesday in an effort to resolve the ongoing issues at Pacofs. The centre is an entity of the national department, not the provincial one. Despite this technicality, Ntombela and the MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation in the Free State, Dimakatso Mahasa, still met with the artists to gauge how the provincial government could better assist them financially.

“You would know that particular sector (the arts) has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and that is why at the centre of the engagement was a discussion between all the parties regarding what extent government can assist to ensure that the challenges artists are facing can be eased.” Pietersen says a number of decisions were arrived at in that regard but he did not elaborate further in the interview because MEC Mahasa is expected to delve into the relief when she tables her department’s budget before the Free State Legislature.

Ntombela is reported to have cautioned the artists regarding the dangers of sleeping at the centre during a pandemic, attempting to sway them from continuing the sit-in further.

The artists staged the sit-in at the Pacofs Building in Bloemfontein, primarily regarding a 2018 investigative report by forensic auditing firm, Morar Incorporated, that finds the current artistic director and acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Meshack Xaba, guilty of wrongdoing. He is embroiled in the favourable treatment of a former Pacofs council member. The provincial coordinator of the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA) in the Free State, Mbuyiselo Nqodi, says Xaba and the artistic committee have been deliberately depriving artists in the industry of opportunities to stage productions.

Xaba ascended to the role of CEO – albeit on a temporary basis - in November of 2020 when the then CEO of Pacofs, Peter Pedlar, was suspended pending an investigation into his conduct. Pedlar joined the troubled centre in 2019 amidst expectations that he would turn the institution around.

Nqodi alleges that the industry is not represented on the artistic committee that reviews proposals for productions and submits them to the council for final consideration. He says that this maligns them and prejudices local artists. The committee is reportedly made up of people from institutions of higher learning in the city, as well as the arts and culture department.

Meanwhile, the Pacofs Council has released a statement saying it is looking into the allegations.

OFM News