11 September 2025
The National Film and Video Foundation, which helps fund film and video productions, has been plagued by leadership instability. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks
The National Film and Video Foundation’s (NFVF) sixth CEO since March 2023 was appointed on Monday.
At a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee meeting last week questions were raised about the procedures involved in appointing the current NFVF board.
Department of Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie was accused by MPs of destabilising the NFVF for political ends.
The leadership instability has led to adverse audit findings and the postponement of this year’s South African Film and Television Awards.
Over the past two-and-a-half years, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) has had six Chief Executive Officers. The latest, Onke Dumeko, was appointed in an acting role on Monday.
This comes against a backdrop of allegations against Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie over the board selection process and the appointment of Dumeko’s predecessors. The NFVF falls under the arts and culture department. It funds the development of film productions and is meant to promote the local film industry.
During an appearance by the NFVF before Parliament’s Sports, Arts and Culture Portfolio Committee on 4 September, McKenzie left halfway through the six-hour grilling. He faced hard questions from ANC MPs Gaolatlhe Kgabo and Matsholo Mmolotsane, and EFF MP Eugene Mthethwa accused McKenzie of deliberately destabilising the foundation for his own political ends.
The accusation followed questions about what legislation McKenzie relied upon to appoint Dumeko’s predecessor, Rirhandzu Machaba, and whether the NFVF board, which the National Film and Video Foundation Act clearly states is responsible for the appointment of the CEO, was duly constituted.
Unsatisfied with the department’s response that the Public Service Act allows the minister to second a member of staff as acting CEO at the board’s request, Mthethwa said McKenzie was “galvanising the sector” for his own political ends.
The previous NFVF board was dissolved by McKenzie in 2024, shortly after his appointment as minister. The nomination deadline for new board members was extended by more than a month, despite 180 nominations having been received. A shortlist of 22 names was never made available for public scrutiny.
It was revealed in Parliament that the majority of the resultant 14-member board, including the board chairperson who has since resigned, were chosen from nominations received during the extension.
“You remove the board in order to put the board that serves your purpose,” said Mthethwa. He accused the minister of being “not honest” despite being someone who often quoted the Bible.
In response, McKenzie said, “You don’t have questions, you just have insults … there’s no act that says I must show the public the shortlist, there’s no act. Now you come here, you talk about my religion, you talk about my political party, you just have insults for me all the time.”
This led Kgabo to later comment that McKenzie was acting “like a toddler”, not a minister.
The NFVF has had a succession of CEOs since Makhosazana Khanyile resigned in March 2023, a year before the end of her five-year term.
She was followed by Thobela Mayinje in an acting role from April 2023. At about the time McKenzie was appointed minister, Mayinje faced criticism for spending money on an expensive junket to the Cannes Film Festival, along with then board chairperson Tholoana Ncheke-Mahlaela. This was despite no South African films being represented at the festival.
Amidst what an NFVF statement at the time said were “numerous allegations”, Mayinje was suspended, but remained on full pay until her resignation in November last year.
The NFVF’s Chief Financial Officer, Peter Makaneta, told the portfolio committee that her resignation brought investigations against her to a halt. Among these were R4,500 worth of alcohol bought on the NFVF credit card.
Lebogang Mogoera was seconded into the breach as acting CEO until February this year, when Robben Island CEO Abigail Thulare was redeployed to head the NFVF. Thulare was relieved two months later by the permanent appointment of pastor Vincent Blennies in April 2025. Blennies suddenly quit less than three months later.
Rirhandzu Machaba then stood in as acting CEO, followed by Onke Dumeko, who took on the role on Monday.
When asked by DA MP Leah Potgieter why Blennies, who was the only permanent appointment since March 2023, unexpectedly resigned, McKenzie said he did not know.
“We had a CEO, people resign, it’s personal matters for people, you can’t stop them. He’s left, there’s nothing we could do about it,” said McKenzie.
Potgieter, along with ANC MP Moyagabo Makgato, also asked why board chair Saudah Hamid resigned shortly after Blennie, but no answer was provided.
GroundUp has established that board member Sydney James also resigned on 4 September, the day of the portfolio committee meeting.
The Auditor-General has made repeat negative findings against the NFVF in the past three years. NFVF CFO Makaneta attributed this to the lack of stability in the organisation.
“All the entities you see achieving clean audits, one of the success factors is stability at CEO and board level … If we can stabilise the entity, we guarantee we can easily achieve a clean audit,” said Makaneta.
He underscored this by revealing he and his personal assistant were the only permanent staff members in the finance department. “We have been working with temporary staff members because of the restructuring that is taking place.”
According to the Auditor-General’s latest 2024/25 report, R1.1-million of the NFVF’s R150-million total budget was flagged as irregular expenditure due to it not being approved by the board. Internal controls were also found to be deficient, which was a repeat finding.
There was a passing mention made in Parliament of the Public Protector’s report published on 30 June, which found the NFVF had failed to properly assess applications for funding under the Presidential Economic Stimulus Programme (PESP), of which the NFVF had received R152-million to disburse.
The Public Protector investigated the NFVF adjudication process and lack of an appeals process for rejected PESP funding, following a complaint lodged by Njabulo Media in February 2023. It was found that OL Africa Media Foundation was similarly unable to appeal after its PESP funding application was turned down.
The Public Protector agreed with Njabulo Media that their funding application was improperly assessed due to failures in the application adjudication process and the lack of a DSAC appeals process. It ordered that future PESP funding be administered according to guidelines to be developed by DSAC to regulate the PESP programme. The guidelines are due at the end of September, but no mention of progress was made during the portfolio committee meeting.
The NFVF has also failed to host the 19th South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs), this year, which were due to take place in October.
The NFVF has stated that “after careful review and consultation”, the SAFTAs had been rescheduled to take place in March next year.
“The decision to move the awards is the result of leadership changes within the NFVF and related unforeseen delays,” stated NFVF spokesperson Lerato Mokopanele.
Independent TV critic Thinus Ferreira noted the announcement came after months of silence about the SAFTAs, and the rescheduling meant filmmakers would have to compete amongst a larger group of entries, as they would span a year-and-a-half rather than across the usual 12 months.
Regarding minister McKenzie’s responses to the portfolio committee, ANC MP Kgabo recommended he be referred to the ethics committee, but committee chair Joseph McGluwa did not make a ruling on this.