adminBongani Ndlovu Showbiz Correspondent
ARTISTES have applauded the move by President Robert Mugabe to fire Andrew Langa from his post as Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture saying he was an impediment to the growth of the arts sector. President Mugabe on Thursday showed Langa the door and replaced him with Mberengwa East legislator Makhosini Hlongwane, who had been appointed Minister without Portfolio earlier in the week.
He becomes Minister of Sports and Recreation after the component of culture was given to the new ministry of Rural Development, Preservation and Promotion of Culture and Heritage that is headed by former Matabeleland South Minister of State for Provincial Affairs Abednico Ncube.
Veteran theatre director Raisedon Baya said Langa’s firing and subsequent rebranding of his ministry was a reflection of his failure to lead the arts sector.
“If I said I’m crying that Andrew Langa has been sacked, it’ll be crocodile tears, and it’ll be a lie because for Bulawayo, we failed to meet him after numerous promises from him. He was more concerned with sports than the arts and he made it clear to us last year,” said Baya.
He said the ministry was ineffective in setting up tangible structures that would help the growth of the sector.
“I believe that his firing was based on results because clearly there’s nothing tangible that was done for the arts by former Minister Langa. We’ve been talking about a cultural policy that for the past two years and it he failed to make sure it materialises,” said Baya.
“As artistes, we need clarification on which ministry we fall under, because the arts are not recreation, neither are they heritage or culture. So we need that clarity on which office we should go to now to get that information.”
Iyasa director Nkululeko Dube weighed in saying he was more concerned with which ministry the arts fall under rather than who was leading them.
“I’m more worried about our redefinition as the arts rather than who is leading us. We need to find our feet again as the performing arts and campaign for more recognition of the arts,” said Dube.
He said the onus was upon the arts industry to reorganise itself and lobby government to re-establish a stand-alone arts industry.
“I think we have to work and come up with a strategy to consolidate ourselves as a sector that contributes immensely to the economy. We need to lobby government to give us our own ministry,” said Dube.
Cultural lobby organisation Nhimbe Trust’s director Josh Nyampimbi said the cultural sector was now a forgotten child under the leadership of Langa.
“When the President established the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture, we were excited and welcomed the move as close to producing a stand-alone ministry of culture. We note with regret that, after almost two years, the cultural sector emerged as a forgotten child with regard to resources and the attention of the Minister devoted to sport,” said Nyampimbi.
He said minister who has taken over arts and culture should engage stakeholders in order to gain a better understanding of the various sectors.
“The Minister can only succeed by opening the doors of his office to representatives of the stakeholder organisations in the cultural sector in order to appreciate the challenges being faced by the sector and to understand the enormous expectations of the different segments of that sector,” said Nyapimbi.
Veteran modelling instructor Sarah Mpofu-Sibanda said: “Langa’s firing is nothing new and it’s not exclusive to the arts sector. People come and go and there is no harm in having new people. However, the danger is that there’ll be no continuity in developing the arts sector with these changes.”
Langa’s appointment as Minister in 2013 was a welcome move as the arts sector longed for recognition.
However, his tenure as minister was largely uneventful as the arts sector did not grow as much as anticipated.
Langa, on numerous occasions, stood stakeholders up at meetings convened by him.
Earlier this year when he visited Amakhosi Cultural Centre, Langa was given a tongue lashing by the centre’s fiery director Cont Mhlanga after the minister’s aide told him (Mhlanga) that he was too busy to listen to artistes’ concerns.
A livid Mhlanga tore into Langa, who was visiting the cultural centre, saying if he was too busy to stay and listen to artistes’ concerns, then he should leave his premises immediately.
Online Reporter