Minister Nathi Mthwethwa has been asked to resign from his post by Theatre practitioners and artists. This follows his posting a tweet that offended them and also his inaction in catering for their financial needs during the Covis 19 recession. Warren Nebe, a practitioner in the Theatre industry took to Twitter to declare their intentions to have the minister resign.
Thread /1
PETITION FOR MINISTER NATHI MTHETHWA TO RESIGN OR BE REPLACED#NathiMustGo
— Warren Nebe (@WarrenNebe) January 19, 2021
Nathi’s posted a controversial tweet claiming that a number of performing arts institutions were still offering an array of indigenous drama as dance among other things. However, the reality of the matter is that many theatre homes had to shut down when lockdown level 3 restrictions were implemented. This resulted in lack of earnings for many actors, producers, administrators, musicians and workers members. The tweet has since been deleted.
Nathi has been given up to the end of January 2021 to have resigned from his post as minister.
“We, the undersigned artists, arts organisations and individuals who seek to make our living within the theatre sector, and more broadly, within the South African arts ecosystem, hereby call upon Mr Nathi Mthethwa to resign as Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture by 31 Jan 2021,” Warren’s tweet reads.
/3 We, the undersigned artists, arts organisations and individuals who seek to make our living within the theatre sector, and more broadly, within the South African arts ecosystem, hereby call upon Mr Nathi Mthethwa to resign as Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture by 31 Jan 2021
— Warren Nebe (@WarrenNebe) January 19, 2021
Minister Nathi has since apologized for his offensive tweet. Spokesperson for the Minister of Sports, Arts & Culture, Masechaba Ndlovu, has released a statement in which the Minister apologizes to the offended parties. He feels bad for his tweet, more so looking at the fact that the pandemic hasn’t bee kind to the arts industry as a whole.
