Question NO67 to the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture
11 September 2019 - NO67
van Wyk, Ms A to ask the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture
Whether his department is investigating alleged (a) irregularities that were identified during the verification of the National Arts Council’s (NAC) 2017-18 audit outcomes and misuse of public funds by certain officers of the NAC; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?
Reply:
(a). The audit outcomes of the 2017/2018 financial year did not reflect irregularities for the National Arts Council. The entity was granted clean audit.
(b). My department instructed the Council of the National Arts Council to investigate the allegations against the CEO of the NAC. The investigation was conducted by Gobodo Forensic Investigative Authority that made findings which were concluded through a disciplinary hearing. The final outcome of the hearing received from the independent Chairperson of the hearing was received on 03 April 2019. The CEO was subsequently acquitted on all charges and reported for duty on the 12th April 2019.