Question NW2599 to the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture
15 September 2022 - NW2599
Mhlongo, Mr TW to ask the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture
(1) What total amount has the National Arts Council of South Africa (NAC) spent on (a) paying the attorneys and (b) legal costs fighting the SA Roadies Association (SARA) (i) in the past five fiscal years and (ii) since 1 April 2022. (2) what has he found to be the reason why the NAC is abusing public funds in legal costs instead of settling matters amicably with SARA as agreed in the meeting between SARA and NAC held on 9 November 2021. (3) what amount is budgeted annually by the NAC for legal costs?
Reply:
Legal costs are annually budgeted, however, it is difficult to make precise determination in budgeting for legal costs, as a result, periodically, the legal costs budget is adjusted informed by case at hand. This is in line with Audit requirements that prescribe adequate contingency provisioning for legal costs and in line with National Treasury Regulations that allow Goods and Services budget adjustments.