It was recently reported that kwaito legend and businessman Arthur Mafokate was suspended from his job as chairperson of the Cultural and Creatives Industries Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA) only two months after his appointment for allegedly being too busy to attend meetings organised by the federation.
FALSE ALLEGATIONS?
A letter coming from the federation made its rounds on social media stating that because of his absence from their projects, he would be suspended until further notice. "We are writing this letter with great concern about your non-communication and absentia from the activities of CCIFSA Joburg. When we nominated you as chairperson of our vibrant region, we had all the reasons and confidence that you will lead CCIFSA Joburg to where it deserves to be," the letter reads. "As much as we still have that confidence and belief in you, it has given us great concern and raised an alarm on whether we all have the same goal of taking the greater Joburg region forward," the letter continues.
A PRIVATE MATTER
The bigwigs at the federation have since denied ever suspending Arthur. Faith Tshabalala, who is the Regional Deputy Chairperson and Gugulethu Sibiya, the regional secretary have in a statement confirmed that the Mnike singer has not been suspended. "As the executive of CCIFSA, we want to categorically mention that the news circulating on social media and the media that Arthur Mafokate was suspended is simply propaganda and untrue," the statement reads. "The letter circulated to the media was an internal matter which was never meant to be communicated with anyone outside of CCIFSA Joburg. In the letter there is nowhere it mentions the suspension of Mr. Mafokate." The federation head states that, "the industry is full of people with jealousy that are always happy to see others fail or go down," the statement reads. "As CCIFSA Joburg and our chairperson. We are at work and do it in harmony with our chairperson." The statement was also witnessed by the regional treasure and regional co-ordinator. When he was appointed as chairman his role was to lobby and advocate for its member organisations on government policies and legislations, to "preserve and document the cultural and creative professionals legacy, while coordinating the industry, and protect rights and status of the industry professionals."
MORE ALLEGATIONS
Not long ago, ZiMoja reported that the Democratic Alliance is challenging both the City of Johannesburg and the Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation for funding 999 Music in what they call double dipping during the 2015/2016 financial year. Arthur's company, 999 Music was awarded the tender to provide entertainment at the New Year's Eve party at Mary Fitzgerald Square in 2015 and it featured top acts like the internationally acclaimed and Grammy-winning sensation Black Coffee, Afro-pop award-winning duo Mafikizolo, Chomee, CiCi, DJ Zinhle, Busiswa, DJ Cleo, Steve Dyer, Zano, Shimza, among a host of entertainers. "The department paid this money to 999 Music despite not being a partner in the event hosted by the City of Johannesburg. Furthermore, the department confirmed that they had partnered with the city, but the city is denying this. They added that this was worrying as the city paid 999 Music a total of R711 000,00 for the New Year's Eve Party. "An investigation must be launched into 999 Music to determine why this company was paid twice for the same service rendered during the 2015/2016 financial year."
