The National Arts Council (NAC) has officially resumed the exercise of its statutory functions.
This follows Gauteng High Court order that temporarily reinstated the dissolved council, marking its first public statement since its dramatic legal victory over Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie.
In a brief media statement issued on Friday, the NAC confirmed that its members had returned to office in compliance with the court order granted on 31 July 2026.
“The council has resumed the exercise of the functions conferred on it by the National Arts Council Act 56 of 1997,” the statement reads.
The council, however, emphasised that the order is only an interim measure pending the final determination of review proceedings challenging McKenzie’s decision to dissolve the body.
“The order operates on an interim basis, pending the final determination of the review proceedings between the parties. Those proceedings have not been concluded, and it would not be appropriate to comment on them,” the council said.
The statement also sought to reassure the arts sector that the institution continued functioning throughout the period during which the council had been dissolved.
“The National Arts Council, as an institution, continued to operate throughout the period in question and its services to the sector were maintained. What has changed is that the Council, as the institution’s governing body, has resumed the functions that the Act reserves to it,” reads the statement.
The council further thanked employees for maintaining operations during the period of uncertainty.
“Council records its appreciation to the employees of the National Arts Council for their work during this period,” it continued.
The announcement follows a significant judgment by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, where Acting Judge A. Millar granted interim relief to 11 former council members who challenged McKenzie’s decision to dissolve the council in May.
The court suspended the Minister’s dissolution decision, reinstated the council and prohibited McKenzie from implementing the dissolution or appointing a replacement council pending the outcome of a full judicial review.
The Minister was also ordered to pay the applicants’ legal costs, including the costs of two counsel on Scale C.
Importantly, the court did not determine whether McKenzie acted unlawfully.
Instead, it found that there was sufficient concern that dissolving the council had effectively undermined the governance framework established by the National Arts Council Act and that maintaining the dissolution pending the review could cause irreparable harm.
The reinstatement comes at a critical time for the arts sector, with thousands of artists awaiting the outcome of Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP) 7 funding applications, while recruitment processes for permanent executive leadership at the council also remain underway.
But the challenge is far from over.
The substantive review, to be heard under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA), will ultimately determine whether McKenzie had “reasonable grounds” under the National Arts Council Act to dissolve the council in the first place.
Until then, the reinstated council resumes its statutory governance responsibilities while the legal battle continues in the courts.
