SA Geographical Names Council chair Palesa Kadi has been appointed as chair of the Mandela Bay Theatre Complex’s newly elected council.
Kadi sits on the council alongside deputy chair professor Mcebisi Ndletyana, Dr Olwethu Sipuka, Comfort Dithula Nabane, Mbasa Metuse, Suren Maharaj, Nonceba Shoba, judge Irma Schoeman and Gcinibandla Mtukela.
The members were appointed by sports, arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa after the department conducted interviews.
In May last year, Mthethwa officially declared the theatre complex, formerly the PE Opera House, as a cultural institution in accordance with the 1998 Cultural Institutions Act and the Public Finance Management Act of 1999.
In October, the minister called for the nomination of candidates to make up its council.
The nine-member council came into effect on June 2 and will serve until June 1 2025.
Kadi, who hails from Red Location, is a former Nelson Mandela Bay municipality director of arts, culture and libraries.
She also served as a commissioner at the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of SA and has chaired various portfolios at the Independent Communications Authority of SA.
The council’s role is to oversee the vision and operations of the Mandela Bay Theatre Complex.
Kadi said it would rely on CEO Monde Ngonyama to provide an effective business model that best served the interest of the creative arts and the growth of the institution.
“We are all starting on a [clean slate] and starting from a zero base means all of us are not going to act as if we’ve been here before.
“We are starting a new institution and that requires that we become independent, level-headed and very focused as a team.
“Fortunately the CEO has been here through the creation of this institution and he has demonstrated resilience.
“All we want is to walk together. What we carry is our integrity as a collective with the vision to make this institution feel like a Broadway Theatre for the African child,” Kadi said.
The council had its first sitting at the Radisson Hotel on Friday and was joined by seasoned theatre maker Dr John Kani, who is staging his world-acclaimed production Kunene and the King at the Mandela Bay Theatre Complex until Sunday.
Kani, who has decades of experience sitting on various councils and boards in the creative sector, said it was important for the council to make the theatre complex accessible to artists far and wide.
“There’s a wonderful thing when you sit on boards in America and it’s the three Gs.
“The first G is that you give a minimum of 10 thousand dollars to sit on the council.
“If you don’t have that, you get it.
“That means we can use you, you can access the funding through people you know who can donate or sponsor the programmes of the institution.
“The final G is to get out if you’re not useful,” Kani said.
He said the council was critical to the success of the theatre complex and urged its members to support the institution to provide a space for Eastern Cape artists and help create a better SA.
“You will be judged by the success of the institution, not by the number of meetings you attend.
“Please do not make your name on apologies for the rest of the year.
“And when you have your council meetings, stay after the financial report ... stay until you get the artistic report, the CEO’s [report] and see the artistic director’s vision and what [are] their challenges.
“Together we can make it work,” Kani said.
Ngonyama said: “As the staff and performing arts fraternity of the Eastern Cape, we place our faith in the collective of the accounting authority in taking the industry forward.
“We are glad to welcome them to the Mandela Bay Theatre Complex as it celebrates 130 years of The Opera House and 10 years into the unflappable transformation agenda.”
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