The eThekwini Municipality Arts and Living Cultures Grant-In-Aid process is expected to disburse R10 million to community organisations.

In a report presented to the eThekwini council in December 2025, the eThekwini Community Services Committee (CSC) stated that the municipality has a legislative and constitutional obligation to support certain initiatives driven by community organisations.

The municipality believes that this programme will contribute positively towards the development, sustainability and promotion of arts, culture and heritage services within the city. This includes providing financial support for cultural activities and artists, supporting performing arts centres, promoting public and community arts development projects across both private and public sectors and helping a broad range of community arts organisations to access and share municipal services and facilities.

However, the municipality has warned that the selection of organisations eligible to receive Grant-in-Aid will be done through bid processes. Also, the directors must not work for the municipality or government departments.

During discussions at the committee level, some councillors suggested that management should consider increasing funding because the R10 million is considered insufficient and has a potential to leave several eligible organisations unfunded.

eThekwini DA Councillor Daniel Mea said that these sectors are engines of creativity, social cohesion, and economic opportunity. However, he said, support must be based on transparency, fairness, and accountability.

“The process described is vague. It does not sufficiently outline how organisations will be assessed, how compliance will be monitored, or how the R10 million allocation will be distributed to ensure meaningful impact. Instead, we are presented with a framework that lacks measurable criteria, clear timelines, and proper safeguards. As a result, it risks creating uncertainty for the very organisations this programme is meant to empower,” Mea stated.

He said that the recommendations do not address how prioritisation will occur, nor do they guarantee that smaller, community-based organisations—often the most vulnerable—will be included.

“We cannot, in good conscience, support recommendations that lack the transparency, accountability, and clarity required to ensure fair and effective outcomes. I urge council and the executive to strengthen this framework, provide clarity, and ensure that the process adheres to the highest standards of good governance. Only then can we truly honour our commitment to the residents of eThekwini and the creative communities who depend on a fair and transparent system,” Mea added.

Imtiaz Syed, eThekwini councillor and Active Citizens Coalition (ACC) chairperson, said he saw this as a December festive giveaway instead of fulfilling the mandate of the city.

“Currently, we have homelessness and vagrancy across our city. Organisations are being supported by the city to cover those aspects. We also have safety and security, which is a major issue in the city, then Non-Governmental Organisations that attend to those things, and the city does not look at them,” Syed said. 

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za

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