- The Southern African Youth Movement has received nearly R70 million in Lottery grants. We have investigated them and have many questions about how the money was spent.
- In this, the first part of our series, we describe how there is little to no evidence that a R15 million grant for a musical was well spent.
- The musical, co-directed by Tsotsi star Presley Chweneyagae, was supposed to be staged in three provinces. But apart from five nights in Mahikeng, we can find no evidence that it was done anywhere else.
- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business home page.
For a show funded by a R15 million Lottery grant and boasting an all-star cast, there is very little evidence that the musical, Taking Back the Future, undertook the three-province tour that was a key part of the grant .
The show was co-written and co-directed by Tsotsi star Presley Chweneyagae. His foundation, the Presley Chwenengayae Foundation, was included in all branding of all content related to the project.
Chwenenyagae enjoyed a close relationship with some members of the former NLC executive and board of directors and regularly attended the organization’s events. He did not respond to an email, sent to an address provided to GroundUp by his wife, with questions about the musical and his involvement, as well as a request for photos and videos of the show.
The musical is one of three projects (the other two being a drug rehabilitation center in Nelspruit in Mpumalanga and a nursing home in Botshabelo in the Free State) for which the Southern African Youth Movement (SAYM) has received funding. of more than R67.5-million from the Lottery, according to the NLC’s annual reports.
“Recovering the Future is a project financed by the National Lottery Commission [NLC]said SAYM on its website, in a post that is no longer on the site, but found using the Wayback Machine.
The stars of the show, co-written and co-directed by Chwenengayae and Tshepo Ratona, were actors Zenzo Ngqobe, Tshireletso Nkoane, Boitumelo “Chuck” Shisana and Segomotso Modise.
Judges for auditions announced for the show included Chwenegayae and leading South African actors Nolo Phiri, Thato Molamu, Terry Pheto who also starred in Tsotsi and Mampho Brescia.
The musical “explores the lives of young people living on a busy but lonely street in the South African capital, Pretoria,” according to a review in the Mahikeng Mail after the show opened at an art studio in the city in June 2017.
Chweneyagae and Ratona told the newspaper: “We wanted to create a universal story in South Africa because of the scourge of [the drug] nyaope and convey the message about its detrimental effects on our youth.”
“[It is] one of [the] creative initiatives conceptualized and implemented by the Southern African Youth Movement and the Presley Chweneyagae Foundation,” the post reads. “This is a dual artistic project, it constitutes elements of theater and cinema. The production will tour three provinces, the Free State, Mpumalanga and North West Province.”
Facebook posts from the time of the premiere suggest that this three-province tour was publicly communicated, but there is silence about the tour after June 25, 2017.
The goal of the multi-million dollar project was supposedly to help children living on the streets and other vulnerable children.
“His main focus is youth development using different artistic disciplines and life skills to help children living on the streets and vulnerable youth in general,” the couple told the newspaper.
But the only event we could find related to street children was a poster advertising a Take Back the Future seminar in Pretoria in 2017, billed as “Using Art to Save Street Children.”
The only review of the show we could find was the one published in June 2017 by Mahikeng Mail, when the show premiered in the Northwest. It had a five-day run, from June 20 to 24 at the city’s Mmabana Studio 1 theater, according to online announcements at the time. It was advertised as starting at 7:00 pm each night and possibly an extra show one day. The theater only seats 120 people. This means that a maximum of 720 people would have seen it at that venue if all the tickets had been sold out.
Despite an extensive internet search, including the SAYM website and Facebook page, and the Presley Chweneyagae Foundation, which is flagged on all program marketing material, including an NLC-funded vehicle, our search turned up no no other reviews, photography. or videos of musical performances. We cannot find evidence that the show has been taken to other provinces.
The SAYM website doesn’t have much content about the show, other than a gallery with some posters, a photo of the Lottery-funded branded vehicle, and what appears to be a photo of some cast members. We couldn’t find a single photograph on this site of any of the musical’s rehearsals or performances.
We also found a February 2017 “Call for Proposals” for the musical, in which various positions for the show were advertised. One of the advertised positions was for “a drug and substance abuse expert with a minimum of ten years experience with a degree in the relevant field.” We also found online advertisements for auditions in the Free State and Mbombela.
In response to a request for copies of photos and videos of performances of the show, as well as a copy of a Take Back the Future documentary, SAYM sent us dozens of photos. They include photos of the stars of the show and some from auditions and rehearsals. The only photos of an actual performance are from the opening night at Mahikeng in June 2017.
The reason we were unable to provide documents related to the 2017 project was that most of it had been destroyed, said SAYM board president Dr. Lekgotla Mafisa.
Mafisa wrote that it is “common knowledge” that the project was carried out “six years ago”, and that the minimum period required to store documents is five years. “Hence the crushing process after so many years since the project began. However, we have all the footage spanning all three auditions and performances,” she said.
He wrote that the program was covered by “main media, radio, television and written press from all provinces.” He said the reason we couldn’t find it in the media “is because the project took place six years ago.”
“Many organizations shred documents every five years based on robust document management standards, which we’re sure you’re familiar with,” he wrote.
Mafisa also strove to disassociate the Chenengwae foundation from the musical: “The SAYM board noted the risk of association [and] at its own discretion, it informed the NLC that the Chweneyagae Foundation would not be involved as a stakeholder in the project.
“We hope that he will not maliciously use Mr. Chweneyagae to sensationalize his involvement in the project, of which he is not a beneficiary,” Mafisa said. “SAYM is a grantee and not the Chweneyagae Foundation. Mr. Presley Chweneyagae was not paid in a personal capacity.”
The Chwenegae foundation also advertises itself as a partner organization and has a brand on posters related to the show. He is also branded on a Taking Back the Future vehicle.
SAYM’s chief executive, Alfred Sigudhla, is also an active director of Chwenegayae’s foundation, a position he assumed in January 2012, according to company records.
In response to further follow-up questions, Mafisa said: “SAYM and the Chweneyagae Foundation have basic trademark rights in projects of mutual interest. That is the reason why the foundation was classified as a related party and was removed in the implementation of the project. “.
“Mr. Chweneyagae is a brand ambassador for SAYM in his capacity as a patron of its foundation,” he said.
Mafisa said SAYM was also unable to provide contracts related to the project, as “the contractual relationships between the parties are not for public consumption in the first place, guided by the various laws that protect such information, such as the POPI Law.”
The NLC said it could not provide photos or video as all files relating to what are known as “proactively funded” projects, such as this one, had been seized by the Special Investigation Unit.
