South African Kwaito legend Arthur Mafokate (Picture via Instagram)
South African Kwaito legend Arthur Mafokate is once again facing claims that he is corrupt, after revelations that not only was he one of the artists who received government funds during the Covid-19 pandemic, but his son, Arthur Junior Mafokate, did as well.
The revelations come as South Africa’s new Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton Mckenzie, threatened to expose the rot in the ministry, including the payment of unspecified sums of money to artists and sportspeople.
On Monday, Mackenzie said he had instructed South Africa’s Department of Arts, Sports and Culture (DASC) to publish the names of beneficiaries from government funds.
“I have given an instruction that a list be published of all artists, creatives and sportspeople who have been receiving money from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture [DSAC] be published inclusive of amounts and reasons,” McKenzie said in a post on X.
“The time where only a select connected few benefit is over,” he continued.
On Wednesday, the department made good on their promise, much to the ire of those who felt that Mafokate was a constant beneficiary of government corruption.
Some felt that Mafokate had pulled some strings to get his son on the list. Both Mafokate and his son received R20 000.
“Oyi Oyi keeps eating our money,” South African opposition politician Mmusi Maimane posted on X.
In its statement, DSAC said the list showed that it had always cared for the welfare of artists.
“[The] Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture has always cared for the creative sector. Below is the link to the Covid-19 relief beneficiaries 2020-2021 list. More lists are coming to cover other categories of funding since 2020 to date,” the department said on its X page on Wednesday morning.
Last year, South Africa’s Special Investigating Unit (SIU) obtained a preservation order to freeze a plot, a farm, and three luxury properties valued at R53m, one of which belongs to the music legend.
The properties are linked to fraud and corruption at the National Lotteries Commission (NLC).
At the time, SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained a preservation order from the Pretoria High Court to freeze three luxury properties, a plot and a portion of a farm that are linked to the siphoning of lotteries grant funding meant for community development projects.
The properties include Mafokate’s luxury property in Midrand, Johannesburg, with a sale value of R7.5m as well as former NLC legal representative Lesley Ramulifho, whose property is in Cape Town in the Western Cape.