BY SELLO ‘CHICCO’ TWALA:
Bitso Sandile Memela is entitled to his opinion, but his latest attack on South African artists raises an important question. What happened to the Sandile Memela who once used his position as a journalist to challenge government and defend the rights and dignity of artists?
Ubutofotofo ngiyabusaba.
The irony is difficult to ignore.
When Memela was a journalist, he was part of a media fraternity that questioned government, exposed failures and gave ordinary citizens a voice. He understood then that holding government accountable was not “entitlement” — it was part of the responsibility of a democratic society.
Today, however, because he has moved from journalism into government, he appears to have developed a completely different interpretation of accountability. Artists who question government are now accused of having a “begging bowl”, being entitled and suffering from a “holier-than-thou attitude.”
That is where I fundamentally disagree with him.
Artists are not asking to be more equal than other South Africans. They are asking government to recognise the particular circumstances of an industry that government itself has regulated, supported and benefited from.
Nobody is arguing that a nurse, bricklayer, teacher, mineworker, domestic worker or taxi driver is less important than an artist. That is a false argument. The question is not whether artists are more important than other citizens. The question is whether the State has fulfilled its responsibilities towards the creative sector and the people who spent their lives contributing to South Africa’s cultural economy.
Memela says artists must simply accept that they are “ordinary citizens”. Fine. But if artists are ordinary citizens, then they must also have the same right as every other citizen to demand accountability from government.
A citizen does not lose that right because he or she happens to be an artist.
The most disturbing part of the article is the attempt to turn the death and suffering of an elderly artist into an argument against artists themselves. Bra Sol Rachilo was 96 years old. The fact that he was an artist does not make his life more valuable than that of another elderly South African. But equally, the fact that other elderly South Africans suffer does not make his suffering irrelevant.
One injustice does not cancel another injustice.
If an elderly artist is living in a shack, the answer should not be to tell artists to stop complaining because a former farmworker may also be living in poverty. The answer should be to ask why elderly South Africans are living without dignity in the first place.
Memela correctly says that government cannot be an individual’s personal manager, financial adviser or retirement fund. Nobody disputes that.
But government has policies, institutions, programmes and statutory responsibilities affecting the creative sector. Government also makes decisions about public funding, broadcasting, copyright, cultural institutions and the protection of creative workers.
Therefore, artists have every right to question how those responsibilities are being discharged.
And there is another uncomfortable question that Memela’s article does not adequately answer.
He speaks extensively about artists who allegedly mismanaged or stole public money and about former artists who entered government and allegedly became gatekeepers. If that is true, those individuals should be held accountable. But corruption is not an “artist problem”. It is a South African problem.
We do not condemn an entire profession because some doctors commit fraud, because some lawyers steal trust money, because some politicians abuse public resources or because some civil servants are corrupt.
So why should artists collectively carry the blame for the alleged wrongdoing of individuals?
The same principle should apply to government.
If artists have failed to organise themselves properly, they must take responsibility. If artist organisations have been badly managed, they must be challenged. If money intended for artists has been stolen, those responsible must face the consequences.
But none of this gives government a licence to escape accountability.
What concerns me most is the apparent transformation in Memela’s own position.
When you are outside government, you can see its weaknesses clearly. When you enter government, you suddenly discover explanations for those same weaknesses.
That is precisely why independent voices are important.
A journalist should question government. An artist should question government. A citizen should question government. And someone who once occupied a position from which he criticised government should be especially careful not to ridicule those who continue doing what he once did.
Artists have historically been among the people who challenged apartheid, defended democracy and gave South Africans a voice when others were afraid to speak. They documented our history through music, theatre, poetry, film and literature.
They did not become “special citizens” because they created art.
They became important contributors to the national conversation.
And there is nothing arrogant about acknowledging that contribution.
Memela says artists must “come down from the pedestal they have put themselves on.” Perhaps the better question is whether those criticising artists should come down from the government pedestal and remember what it feels like to stand outside the system demanding answers.
Artists do not need government to love them. They need government to respect them.
They need contracts honoured. They need royalties paid. They need copyright protected. They need transparent funding systems. They need institutions that work. They need proper social protection and retirement mechanisms. And when government fails, they have every democratic right to say so.
That is not entitlement.
That is citizenship.
So yes, artists are ordinary citizens.
And ordinary citizens have a right to question government.
The difference is that artists have microphones, stages, cameras, newspapers and audiences through which they can make those questions heard.
Perhaps that is what really makes some people uncomfortable.
And finally, Sandile, before lecturing artists about abandoning their “begging bowls”, perhaps we should ask ourselves a more fundamental question:
Would Sandile have written this same article when he was sitting on the other side of the government table? Bengeke akhulume.
Because history has a way of remembering not only what people said when they were outside power, but also what they said after they entered it.° Sello Chicco Twala is a renowned veteran music producer, composer and an artist. – @NewsSA_Online
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