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Department Feared Mokoena's Actions May 'Compromise the Minister'
By M Blackman on 11 May
Paul Mashatile, Toasting the Nation,
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The South African Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) has finally handed over documents concerning South Africa’s controversial participation at the 2011 Venice Biennale. This came about after a High Court application was launched following the department’s failure to respond to a request under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
The controversy surrounding South Africa’s participation at the Venice Biennale began when it was revealed that the minister, Paul Mashatile, had seemingly without any consultation selected a commercial gallerist, Mr Monna Mokoena, as commissioner for the Biennale. Furthermore Mr Mokoena had then been allowed to send two of his own artists to the Biennale with public money without any consultation having taken place. Also, despite several attempts by journalists to clarify these matters, substantive answers were never forthcoming from either Mr Mokoena and his spokesperson Mr Victor Dlamini nor the department.
Previously, in answers to parliament, the department had stated that ‘there was no time to call for public participation since any delay would have caused South Africa to miss the [Biennale’s] deadline’ and that ‘the process was transparent since the Commissioner reported to the Department all plans for participation in the Venice Biennale’.
However, what has now come to light is that the department met on the 15 March 2011 with Mokoena (before South Africa’s participation had been announced) to discuss, amongst other things, their concerns with his selection. The minutes of the meeting reflect that the department expressed concern that Mr Mokoena had not consulted with the rest of the arts industry. It is noted that Ms Ndebele-Koka, of the department, raised the concern that Mr Mokoena’s actions ‘could not only get bad publicity from the sector if they have not been consulted, but parliamentary questions that can put the Minister in a difficult position.’
At the beginning of the meeting, Ms Ndebele-Koka is stated as saying that this event ‘should not compromise the minister.’ The minutes also indicated that Ms Ndabankulu, ‘anticipated a lot of questions for the industry at large’ and that consultation with organizations like Iziko Museums was perhaps required.
Mokoena is noted saying that it was too late to consult with the sector because the deal was ‘done and dusted’. Mokoena stated that he had previously ‘discussed the artists and proposal with the minister and the he [the minister] approved.’ He is also noted as stating that ‘at this late stage [the inclusion of other artists was] not possible’. More bizarrely, he is recorded saying that he had in fact been working on this project since 2009 and had gone to consult with people in Belgium and the Netherlands.
What does appear from the minutes is that Mr Mokoena seems to have been in a position to steamroll the department’s concerns regarding a lack of consultation: he was confident, following discussions with the minister, that his appointment had been secured.
Mokoena’s attitude towards consultation both in this meeting and subsequently seems in stark contrast with a previous commissioner of the Venice Biennale, Louise Jansen van Vuuren, who stated that, ‘despite the extremely short notice we made every possible effort to consult regionally as widely as possible and so enlist the largest range of opinions.’
The minutes also go on to indicate that Mokoena’s spokesperson Mr Victor Dlamini responds to the departments concerns by stating that he will ‘avail himself to answer questions about concerns raised to the DAC’. Mr Dlamini is also noted as stating that: ‘Twitter YouTube, Facebook and Flikr will form part of the marketing campaign and strategy.’ However, when Dlamini was asked several weeks ago about how the R360 000 earmarked in the budget for ‘social media engagement’ was spent he stated: ‘I had nothing to do with it’.
With regards to finances, the department did include proof of two payments made to Mr Mokoena’s company, CulArt, totalling R10 million. The director general also confirmed that the DAC did ensure that ‘the funds advanced were utilised for the purpose for which funding was approved’. For this they did not provide documentation. However a further request has been sent to the department for documents evidencing this oversight – at date of publication this had not been received.
The director general of the DAC, Mr Sibusiso Xaba, stated in his responding affidavit: ‘I deny that there was any pre-existing relationship between Mokoena and the minister’. A legal expert has confirmed that Mr Xaba’s statement is, however, merely hearsay evidence that can only stand up in court if confirmed in an affidavit by the Minister or Mokoena – these were not provided.
What has also been revealed is that Mr Mokoena was appointed as commissioner before the 5 January 2011. In a letter, sent on that date to the SA ambassador in Italy, Minister Mashatile states that ‘the services of Mr Monna Mokoena [have been engaged] to coordinate DAC’s participation.’ However, Mr Xaba admitted that ‘there are no minutes or other records relating to the appointment of Mokoena as commissioner’. Mr Xaba also confirmed that towards the end of 2010 Mokoena ‘the part-owner of CulArt’ (a company only officially registered on 19 January 2011) ‘approached the DAC with a proposal’ and that the department then accepted this proposal.
Mr Xaba goes on to explain the lack of official procedure and documentation by saying ‘there were no guidelines or policy regarding appointments of commissioners for the Biennale.’ This is despite the fact that previous participations at Venice, in 1993 and 1995, had strict tender procedures.
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