THE Democratic Alliance (DA) is demanding answers in relation to former National Arts Council CEO Rosemary Mangope’s resignation.
The party wants the council’s board to appear before Parliament urgently to explain itself.
Shadow minister for sports, arts and culture, Veronica van Dyk, told Daily Sun they wanted the terms of agreement between Mangope and the council to be made public.
“The council owes it to the public and artists to provide clarity. The council must appear before the committee in order for us to understand the reason for this mutual agreement and settlement before any action can be taken,” she said.
“This whole Mazars forensic audit was about transparency and accountability for the manner in which public money was spent. Money that should have benefitted our artists and arts sector.“It really seems that consequence management in the council is problematic.
ALSO READ : Mountain of beef between Imfezi and Intaba
“There are far too many questions surrounding the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme.
“The DA will therefore not rest until all is in the open,” Van Dyk said.
She said it needed to be explained why charges against Mangope were withdrawn.
“The council is a public entity. It must, therefore, be transparent regarding how they manage and spend public money, how they make decisions and why, and this should be accompanied with supporting documents. There needs to be accountability.
“The Mazars forensic audit of the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme was to establish whether there were any irregularities or inconsistencies in the management, adjudication and approval of funding applications and whether there was any gross negligence, misconduct or dereliction with regards to various officials of the NAC,” she said.
“We need to know why charges were withdrawn and what the terms of the settlement agreement are.”
Mangope left the council under a dark cloud as she was facing internal and external investigations.
