PA’s Kunene defends McKenzie after publishing list of artists who received COVID-19 relief package

JOHANNESBURG - Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy leader Kenny Kunene has defended Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie's decision to publish the list of artists who received relief funding from the State during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, it emerged the department paid out over R72 million in financial relief to more than 3,000 creatives between 2020 and 2021.

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McKenzie has been widely criticised by political parties for making public the amounts paid to beneficiaries of the department’s relief package.

Speaking during a media briefing in Johannesburg on Thursday, Kunene said McKenzie was merely advocating for transparency in the use of public funds.

“We support minister Gayton McKenzie for being transparent and we call upon him to continue publishing the lists so that South Africans can be able to see who was supported.”