The request comes as a group of the artists stage a sit-in at the Pacofs building in Bloemfontein, until the newly elected council comes back to them regarding a 2018 investigative report that allegedly finds the current artistic director and acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Meshack Xaba, guilty of wrongdoing. 

The Provincial Coordinator of the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of South Africa (Ccifsa) in the Free State, Mbuyiselo Nqodi, tells OFM News, Ntombela’s office has promised to come listen to the group’s concerns as soon as she is available in the coming week. Nqodi and company want the Pacofs council to factor in the findings of the 2018 report and oust Xaba as the acting CEO and incumbent artistic director of the centre. He says Xaba and the artistic committee have been deliberately depriving artists in the industry of opportunities to stage productions, but caution that they aren’t the only problem.

“Our engagement is not going to end here at Pacofs, because the Premier is a part of the problem.” He cites the cancellation of the Mangaung African Cultural Festival (Macufe) for a second year running as a problem, because the funding that is allocated to the Provinical Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation for the festival has been redirected for the second time, depriving artists of gigs to survive. “We are simply here to try and fix this institution and this is our effort. We hope it will succeed and we’re doing everything we can to soldier on,” says Ndoqi on the sit-in.

Xaba ascended to the role of CEO – albeit on a temporary basis - In November of 2020 when the then CEO of Pacofs, Peter Pedlar, was suspended pending an investigation into his conduct. Pedlar joined the troubled centre in 2019 amidst expectations that he would turn the institution around.

Nqodi alleges that the industry is not represented on the artistic committee that reviews proposals for productions and submits them to the council for final consideration. He says that this maligns them and prejudices local artists. The committee is reportedly made up of people from institutions of higher learning in the city, as well as the arts and culture department.

Pacofs is yet to comment on the allegations leveled against them.

OFM News/Lee Simmons and Olebogeng Motse