Johannesburg: Today, the NAC briefed the cultural and creative sector on the progress made in respect of the disbursement of the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme.

Having received an allocation of R300 million of which R285 million was to be distributed for

PESP funding, the following milestones have been achieved:

• The NAC has announced that a total of 1 331 applicants have been finally approved for the PESP grant
• To date, a total of R168 811 395 has been paid to 1 053 beneficiaries, which is a combination of 70% of the grant value (the first tranche) or the full grant for the beneficiaries;
• Funds disbursed to date of R168 811 395 means the NAC has now disbursed 84.9% of the first tranche (70%) of the total grant value (R285 million) in accordance with the PESP agreement between the Department of Sports, Arts & Culture (DSAC) and the
  NAC;
• The remaining balance of the first tranche to be paid is now R30 million, which comprise 125 applicants whose Grant Notification Letters were sent out yesterday, 46 contracts yet to be received back from beneficiaries, and 83 contracts that will be processed for payment over the next few days;
• The final balance of R85.5 million, which are the second tranche payments will be paid only after projects deliverables have been completed and reported on at various intervals; and
• A further 18 contracts totalling R 909 376 will be processed for payment by close of business today. This will bring the total of paid beneficiaries to 1 071, amounting to R169 720 771.

The NAC urges the 125 beneficiaries, who have received GNLs in the past 24-hours, to return their documentation by no later than next Friday, 23rd April 2021.

For all previously issued/ outstanding contracts and GNLs, the NAC issued a hard deadline last week for these to be submitted by today, 16 April 2021.

Beneficiaries who have received first tranche payments will need to submit their interim reports via the GMS portal, in order for their second tranche payments to be processed. The reporting templates for Stream 1 are now available on the GMS portal. We are currently updating all Stream 2 payments on GMS and their reporting templates will be available by the latest Tuesday, 20 April 2021.

As per our promise to the industry for transparency on all payments made to date, all paid beneficiaries to date, have been published. This information is currently available on our website. The final and total list of all paid beneficiaries will be published once the PESP programme has been concluded.

The NAC wishes to appeal to the artists currently occupying the entities to abide by the court eviction order and vacate the offices of the National Arts Council. Their continued defiance to vacate the offices is hindering the work of the entity to serve all arts practitioners in South Africa.

Council remains fully committed to successfully completing the PESP process to ensure that the PESP funds reach all beneficiaries so they can retain and create the much-needed work opportunities in our industry.

ENDS…
For Media Enquiries: Council Spokesperson, Clr. Tshepo Mashiane – 072 037 3358