A North Gauteng High Court sheriff in Johannesburg has engaged artists and creatives sitting-in at the National Arts Council (NAC) offices in Newtown, Johannesburg, instead of implementing the eviction order.
Marks Mangaba, who has been tasked with removing the group also known as Abahlali base NAC met artists on Wednesday, saying he wanted to understand their challenges.
His visit comes after the high court issued an order that the artists must vacate the premises with immediate effect last week.
In a video taken during a meeting, Mangaba assured the group that he was not there to enforce the order, but to listen to them.
Mangaba said: “I am not here to harass you. I had to come and understand your challenges because we will have to execute the order at some point. I don’t know [whether] when my deputy came to serve you on Friday, you understand what was happening. If you have a lawyer, he must negotiate with the landlord not with the sheriff. What are your challenges, is it money?”
The sheriff kept referring to the artists as tenants but they quickly corrected him. The group has been sitting-in at NAC for 45 days demanding answers in the misappropriation of Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP) funds.
Opera singer and leader of the group Sibongile Mngoma said: “We are not tenants. We are staging a sit-in protesting because they are not paying us. We are not illegal tenants in this building. We read the court order and what it says pending them finalising the issue of PESP and other matters around it.”
"We are not owing anyone rent money. They have been given money to make sure artists can work and they have misappropriated the funds. It is a service delivery issue and they are running away from answering questions. When you talk about tenants, you are really misinformed.”
Mangaba said he was happy he got an explanation.
Mangaba told Sowetan yesterday that sheriffs were known for harassing people and he wanted to change that mentality. He, however, refused to answer questions, saying he was not authorised to speak to the media.
NAC board spokesperson Tshepo Mashiane said: "The sheriff has served them with a court order and how he takes the whole process forward is in his hands and the court. We have made it clear to the sheriff that there should not be any forceful eviction or injuring of the people sitting-in."
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