THE REBUTTAL: Eugene Mthethwa exposes the NAC’s culture of incompetence and deceit

On Friday, 27 March, the nation watched in disbelief as Vusi Leeuw, a member of the National Arts Council (NAC), turned a solemn Parliamentary Portfolio Committee sitting into a theatre of petty vengeance.

As the NAC strike hit its tenth day, Leeuw attempted to deflect from the council’s systemic failures by accusing legendary musician and activist Eugene Mthethwa of owing the institution money.

However, Leeuw’s attempt at character assassination backfired badly. In a detailed and scathing response, Mthethwa has not only cleared the air but has turned the spotlight back onto the NAC. He revealed an organization infested with incompetent people and defined by a lack of governance.

What Leeuw framed as a simple case of a debtor is, in fact, a story of bureaucratic bungling, illegal rejection criteria, and a desperate attempt to cover up administrative malpractice.

The well connected rejection.

The friction began during the 2021/2022 financial year when Mthethwa applied for R350,000 to fund a Kwaito vs Amapiano event. In a move that highlights the NAC's departure from professional standards, the application was initially rejected because Mthethwa was deemed too successful to need help.

Mthethwa quotes the absurd rejection letter verbatim:

"Unfortunately, your project did not make the panel review list for the following reasons: applicant seems to be well-connected and able to source funding and sponsorship, particularly for the proposed project"

The reasoning, he suggests, was not only unjustified but later admitted to be procedurally flawed by NAC leadership itself. After public backlash, then,interim CEO acknowledged that the application had not even been reviewed by a proper panel, a stunning admission for a public institution entrusted with distributing cultural funding.

"Mbina-Mthembu said that the application only went through the compliance review process and that now they’ll take it through the necessary procedures, but Mbina-Mthembu also conceded that rejecting my application because I seem to be well connected is outside of their criteria," Mthethwa explainedd.

Governance failure in plain sight

When the NAC finally followed proper procedure, they approved the application but slashed the budget from R350,000 to a mere R60,000, citing that they had overcommitted their funds.

For Mthethwa, this was not just a budget cut, it was an insult and a clear indicator of the council's inability to manage public money. He explained his decision to accept the diminished funds as a strategic move to expose the council's internal rot:

"I intentionally accepted the amount to further test whether my suspicions were correct, that the NAC was simply trying to cover up its mistakes, not truly committed to quality service delivery for the sector," he said.

The reality of the debt

The result was exactly what he expected. The NAC, more concerned with ticking boxes than actual art, insisted he execute a small version of the project even after he informed them the original project dates had passed and he had already secured private sponsors.

Mthethwa went further, detailing how external factors including escalating violence at nightclub venues forced him to postpone and ultimately cancel the event. Deposits for venues and DJs were lost.

Crucially, he said that this was communicated transparently to the NAC, along with a request to arrange a reasonable repayment plan.

“I requested that the NAC set terms for the repayment of the funds in reasonable instalments, given that we had already incurred losses. To date, no such repayment arrangement has been made.”

But instead of engaging constructively, the NAC allegedly outsourced the matter to a law firm a move Mthethwa questions both in necessity and intent:

“As is often the case when the NAC faces scrutiny from oversight bodies, they hired a law firm that called me once and then stopped all contact after I questioned the necessity of their involvement, given my willingness to cooperate. This further demonstrated the NAC’s lack of proper process and accountability,” he explained.

Vusi Leeuw’s mockery of himself

Mthethwa argues that Leeuw’s outburst in Parliament was not an act of oversight, but a desperate move to silence anyone who is supporting NEHAWU’s claims of non-responsiveness and mismanagement at the NAC.

“It is for this reason I was able to talk about this case openly during the first sitting with NAC and recently even before Vusi Leeuw made a mockery of himself and displaying the very incompetence as part of the council which is supposed to turn around and hold its management accountable for the allegations I was raising in support of Nehawu’s submission of non-responsiveness.”

For Mthethwa, Leeuw’s outburst in Parliament was not just inappropriate, it was emblematic of the very failures the NAC is accused of. Mthethwa’s conclusion is a damning indictment of the current council. He believes his case is merely the tip of the iceberg for many artists who have been targeted by the same witch hunt tactics.

“I believe that my case is not unique. If one were to call for many others who have been witch-hunted by NAC through the same law firm, you would be shocked how many would come out. NAC is infested with incompetent people and that is where its challenges are.”

A Council in freefall

As the NAC strike continues, the public is left with a clear picture of an institution in crisis. On one side, we have Leeuw, a man who uses a Parliamentary platform to settle personal scores and violates the decorum of the house. On the other, we have a sector veteran exposing how the NAC uses illegal criteria, budget mismanagement, and expensive legal threats to mask its own failures.

If the Portfolio Committee was looking for evidence of why the NAC is failing its mandate, they need not look further than Leeuw’s behavior on Friday and Mthethwa’s revelations. The incompetence is not a theory, it is a documented fact.