South African artists are not the only beneficiaries of the grant and relief funds provided by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture. On Thursday, social media users who went through the lengthy list spotted a few Nigerian artists on the list and brought it to the attention of the newly appointed minister, Gayton McKenzie.
The minister had tweeted about the list, saying, “Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has always cared for the creative sector. Below is the link to the Covid-19 Relief Beneficiaries 2020-2021 list. More lists are coming to cover other categories of funding since 2020 to date Beneficiaries.”
An X user made a screenshot of the list, which showed a musician, Adetola John Aina (aka Ola Sax), receiving R20 000. Other tweeps claimed that the list contained other foreigners, which further angered other South Africans.
Minister Gayton reacted to the observation, saying, “I would also love to know that. I am waiting for all lists to be published TODAY!!, we shall interrogate names, reasons & criteria. Thanks.”
Some Twitter users reacted to the news, with one saying, “Nigerians artist, eating South African’s tax payers money? Then…” Another user said, “But those people were saying government never helped them with anything let Gayton expose them.”
The controversy has sparked a heated debate on social media, with many calling for an investigation into the matter.
