Jack Lohman: Star or damp squib?
by Lloyd Pollak
On the 12th of June 2002, a photograph of the CEO of Iziko museums of Cape Town, Professor Jack Lohman, graced the Cape Times. Lohman is beaming, and the words "Mission accomplished" above the picture implies he had achieved his stated aim of transforming the 15 Iziko museums into vibrant popular centres of activity and was now ready to return to England. The question that must be asked is: Is Iziko thriving or heading towards a terminal state of decline?
Before attempting to answer this, I must concede that Lohman faced a nigh impossible task. Carol Kaufmann, curator of African art at the South African National Gallery (SANG), told me that "Lohman had had a difficult time as an outdated, entrenched, colonial mind-set pervaded certain quarters of Iziko, and he had to deal with opposition and deliberate obstruction. He also could not rid Iziko of dead wood, as the stringent financial constraints under which he was forced to operate would not stretch to severance packages. As a result, no new blood regenerated Iziko." Many museologists, such as Anna Marska of the SA Museum, maintain that the transformation of Iziko is, by its very nature, a long-term process, and that Lohman could not fully implement his vision in a mere two years. Most of the positive results of his strategic planning will become apparent only after his departure, Marska added.
Although it may be impossible to assess the full extent of Lohman's achievement now, what one can do is outline some of the risible gaffes which have brought him into disrepute.
"Ever since Lohman arrived, he has been dogged by controversy due to his highhanded style of dealing with senior museum personnel", Anna van Wyk, the NNP spokesperson for the portfolio of Art, Culture, Science and Technology told me. "Lohman also made rash, ill-considered announcements such as a proposal to de-accession the priceless Sir Flinders Petrie bequest of ancient Egyptian artefacts held by the Slave Lodge (formerly the Cultural History Museum.) This revealed a profound insensitivity to the important role the collection plays in the cultural life of Capetonians. There were also rumours that the Slave Lodge was to be ceded to the ANC as party offices. Neither of these things happened but the uncertainty occasioned considerable indignation and concern."
The action Van Wyk finds most symptomatic of Lohman's high handed behaviour is that "he renamed the national museums of Cape Town 'Iziko� without any consultation or public participation. Iziko means nothing to most Capetonians and nothing in international museum circles where Cape Town was an established brand that evoked the entire history and culture of South Africa. Many people were alienated by this new name." The Xhosa word "Iziko" is also incomprehensible to speakers of other African languages. How's that for communication, marketing and instant product identification?
"At all Iziko museums, Lohman caused enormous destabilization and great unhappiness and uncertainty amongst the museum fraternity," say Van Wyk. My investigations certainly confirmed van Wyk's judgement. An employee at the Natale Labia museum confided, "Lohman's divide and rule policy proved extremely demoralizing, with staff members set against each other in an atmosphere of distrust."
Lohman's program of restructuring grades and salaries took almost two years to implement, and even now the slow process is not complete. This forced staff to endure an extended period of tense uncertainty knowing grades and salaries were to be reviewed and fearing demotion, salary cuts and retrenchment.
When the new grades and salaries were announced from January of this year, these fears proved well founded. Although Lohman had repeatedly promised employees "advancement" and a "better deal", personnel who have served the museums for over twenty years now discover they are worse off financially than they were before. The abolition of Sunday double pay and overtime, means that the extra monies people relied on to tide them over, are no longer forthcoming.
A staff member of the S.A. Museum described how the "Thatcherite ruthlessness" of Lohman's salary cuts often went hand in hand with a humiliating downgrading of grades and job descriptions. Employees who had worked happily for years as receptionists and security guards were suddenly reduced to performing menial tasks such as mowing lawns, washing cars and cleaning and dusting. Many have expressed feelings of loss of pride in their jobs, leading to disillusionment and resentment.
The huge disparities between the different grades and salaries of Iziko employees explain much of this rancour. Lohman received R480, 000 per annum and the Department also provided him with a car, paid his rent of R12, 000 per month, his expense account, petrol costs and cell-phone bills. How can such an extravagant salary be justified at a time when the SANG's acquisition budget has dwindled to next to nil?
By contrast museum assistants at the bottom of the ladder earn only between R21, 600 and R29, 000 per annum. They were told that these salaries would be subject to further substantial reductions, but this was averted through recourse to labour courts. These appalling inegalities seem iniquitous in our new democracy where old hierarchies of rank, income and status are supposedly yielding to more egalitarian arrangements. As Stefan Hundt, the director of the Sanlam Corporate Art Collection warned "Reducing the salaries of staff employed by the museums for over ten years directly contravenes the Labour Relations Act. Unions will resort to legislation to receive increments, and when they become legally binding, it will further impoverish Iziko which is already teetering on the brink of bankruptcy."
Predicts Hundt: "Financial disaster will overtake Iziko. In 2002 the institution received R27, 000,293 from the Department. This sum will be increased to R29, 000,104 in 2003 and 2004, and then R30, 000, 042 in 2005. In terms of inflation this represents a decrease. With the hugely inflated salaries now being paid to Iziko's eight fat cat directors, the institution will inevitably go into deficit."
When I requested last year's financial report I was told that no such document exists. At every level of my investigations Iziko dragged its heels. As Iziko is a national institution funded by taxpayers surely it should be accountable to all? Do the facts not belong in the public domain?
It is common knowledge that many art lovers and museum professionals allege Lohman is not a professor in the accepted sense, that his CV is spurious, and his museum experience scant. Perturbed by these suspicions the Committee of Friends of the SANG eventually wrested a CV from Lohman. Carol Shear, the ex chairperson of the Friends Commitee, told me that this evasive document made no mention of any MA or Ph.D.
I then phoned Karen Skawran and Cheryl Ozinsky (two members of the committee who appointed Lohman.) Both maintained he possessed "impeccable academic credentials", and that he had made a "magnificent contribution", but then, as Mandy Rice-Davis once said, "they would, wouldn't they?"
Next I attempted to obtain Lohman's CV from Iziko's Human Resources Department. They claimed they possessed no such document, but would endeavour to obtain one. Three weeks later I am still waiting.
Both friends of the SANG and many of its curators are highly critical of the allegedly "dubious manner" in which Lohman was appointed. They insist the appropriate constitutional processes were not followed and that Lohman's candidacy was never presented to the other nine members of the Selection Committee in the due and proper manner.
Furthermore,it would appear that Lohman's successor too will not be appointed in a democratic and transparent fashion. I suspect the person has already been selected. The post was only advertised around the 18th of June, and the application forms were only made available from the 24th of June when the closure date for applications was the 30th of June. This gave candidates for the post a mere six days in which to submit their applications. The implications are obvious and only heighten our fears about the ubiquity of corruption in every branch of South African life.
Lloyd Pollak is a Cape Town art critic
