The National Arts Council (NAC) has reportedly laid criminal complaints against artists, who have been occupying its premises in Johannesburg for more than a month.

The artists are demanding answers about the R300 million Presidential Employment Stimulus Package (PESP), and more specifically, where the money has actually gone since it was handed over last year, EWN reported on Tuesday.

This development comes after Cape Town artists gathered at the Artscape Theatre Centre in March to protest over the management of the COVID-19 relief fund.

The artists claimed that funds meant to offer them relief had been mismanaged, News24 reported.

They accused NAC of missing the deadline to pay the COVID-19 relief funds.

The artists had since stepped up the pressure for the Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa to resign over the matter, according to a recent EWN report. 

“So they’re channelling the money out that’s supposed to go to artists that are going where? That’s the question. Where is the money going? What’s their job? What should they be doing differently? Their job. They should be doing their jobs not making a mess because this is a mess,” Sibongile Mngoma, an opera singer was quoted as saying at the time.  

PICTURE: Cape Town ETC gallery

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