According to the Bloemfontein High Court order granted on Wednesday, Donald Constable and the rest of the MCC are barred from coming into contact with Pacofs’ offices in Bloemfontein, either personally or via other persons representing their organisation. They are also prohibited from threatening or harassing Pacofs employees/contractors as well as interrupting operations at the facility. The interdict comes after MCC members twice attempted to forcibly gain entry to the Bloemfontein facility in less than a week. 

Whilst police thwarted MCC's efforts to bring operations at Pacofs to a halt last week Friday, they succeeded on Monday, evicting workers from the building. Pacofs’ legal team, lead by Jacques Nortjé from Kramer Weihmann Inc, view the incident seriously and wishes to get the message out that Pacofs will not condone unlawful actions. It’s revealed that salaries couldn’t be processed on Monday due to this chaos at the building. But it appears this was later rectified.

The interdict comes after the acting Pacofs Chiefs Executive Officer (CEO), Sharon Snell, formally laid a complaint with police alleging she had been intimidated and received threats from unknown individuals in recent months. 

Free State Police spokesperson, Motantsi Makhele, says 48-year-old Snell alleges on Friday 22 October a group of people stormed her private vehicle in First Avenue as she arrived at work. She reportedly managed to reverse and flee the scene before heading straight to the police. According to Makhele, Snell has been receiving intimidating correspondence in the past, centred on her tiff with staff over vacant posts. The investigation is ongoing.

MCC member, Donald Constable, who happens to be the first respondent in the interdict, previously said they have in the last two weeks received numerous complaints about alleged maladministration, bullying and sexual harassment at the embattled facility, involving senior management. This incident comes not too long after OFM News reported that artists that staged a sit-in at Pacofs over March and April 2021 remain aggrieved nearly seven months since their demonstration. The Free State coordinator of the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of South Africa (Ccifsa), Mbuyiselo Nqodi, says that it is still more of the same, since Snell was appointed as Pacofs’ acting CEO in April 2021.

Her controversial predecessor, Xaba, was removed from the top post but was retained in the artistic director position. Nqodi tells OFM News they are awaiting a report on the allegations levelled against Xaba that will reveal whether he will be completely sacked from the institution or not. Nqodi says the report needs to be presented to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts, and Culture before the artists can know the outcome of Xaba’s fate at Pacofs. Nearly seven months since Nqodi and company staged the sit-in, they are yet to be shown the report. It is not yet known if the committee is in possession of such a report.

The respondents are required to respond to the order by 2 December 2021.

OFM News