The SA creative sector has slammed Department of International Relations and Co-operative Minister Naledi Pandor for her ‘’careless’’ statements after the minister reportedly said Africa needs more scientists and skilled people in technology than in the arts in a September 2022 interview.
THE SOUTH African creative sector has slammed Department of International Relations and Co-operative Minister Naledi Pandor for her ‘’careless’’ statements regarding the sector.
This comes after the minister reportedly said Africa needs more scientists and skilled people in technology than in the arts in a September 2022 interview.
The interview, which surfaced recently on social media, has sent tongues wagging.
‘’We must ensure that we have greater skill development on the continent in critical skill areas. I do not think that we want more art trainers; sorry to the arts people, but I think science, technology, and engineering are very important because those skills are what we desperately need, as well as those in finance and economic sectors. We need highly trained people in information and technology,’’ the minister is quoted as saying in the interview.
Within the country’s creative sector, the KwaZulu-Natal Cultural and Creative Industry Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA KZN) called the minister’s remarks ‘’inappropriate, irrelevant, and insulting’’ to the millions of creative sector practitioners across the continent.
‘’The minister’s comments were inappropriate, irrelevant, and insulting with the intention to perpetuate negative stereotypes about the arts and demoralise professionalism in the field of humanities. The former minister of education knows better that the arts sector has taken a harsh beating from various socio-economic and political conditions in our country. Despite the harshest conditions that practitioners and entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative industries meet, most of them keep the nation’s heartbeat,’’ said Thokozani Zulu, CCIFSA KZN chairperson.
However, Pandor’s spokesperson, Lunga Ngqengelele, has since apologised on behalf of the minister, saying that the minister was misunderstood and it was not her intention to upset artists.
‘’Dr Naledi Pandor has noted the statement issued by the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of SA, calling on her to apologise for appearing to undermine the arts in an interview. The interview, on September 14, 2022, with the Council on Foreign Relations, based in the US, focused on skills that are needed on the African continent, and the minister stressed the need to increase the number of young people in what is often referred to as ‘critical skills’,’’ Ngqengelele said.
