Betusile Mcinga Calls Out NAC After Six Years of Gospel Festival Funding Rejections

Betusile Mcinga has been running the O.R Tambo Gospel Music Festival for six years, consistently using the platform to raise funds for social causes, including back-to-school uniform drives, Christmas food parcels for disadvantaged families, and higher education bursaries. Despite these contributions, Mcinga says his festival continues to be rejected for funding by the National Arts Council (NAC).

In an open letter addressed to Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie, Mcinga expressed frustration at the repeated rejections. “We consistently applied for NAC funding every time it’s advertised but we always get rejected. We do everything in our power to meet the requirements, but we never get the positive results,” he wrote.

Mcinga highlighted a recurring pattern he finds unfair. “Every year almost the same companies and same events are receiving funding, but we are always excluded. It’s as if we are targeted for exclusion from benefiting from your department and NAC. Maybe it’s because we are based in a small town? We don’t know but the trend is really not fair and frustrating,” he added.

The Ngena Noah hitmaker clarified that he is not challenging the minister or NAC personally, but seeks transparency and fairness in funding allocation. He recently hosted the annual festival in Mthatha in September 2025 without financial support.

“I’m not the only one facing this challenge of rejection, and I don’t get the real reason why we are rejected,” Mcinga said. He suggested a rotation system to ensure a broader distribution of funding. “It can’t be that we are complaining about funding for many years while other events are getting the funding year by year. That’s not fair,” he noted.

NAC spokesman Sibonelo Chauke said the council will review Mcinga’s application with the Arts Development Office to determine the reasons for rejection. “We generally receive applications amounting to billions requesting funding and unfortunately some applications are declined due to budget constraints,” he explained.

Mcinga’s appeal highlights ongoing concerns about transparency and equitable support for smaller community-based arts initiatives, raising questions about how funding decisions are made and whether all deserving projects receive a fair chance.