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Artists Want Their Voices Heard

Artists Want Their Voices Heard

Various civil society organisations and artists in KwaZulu-Natal have come together under the banner of United Against Corruption (UAC) in a call to end corruption in South Africa.

The Durban University of Technology’s City Campus played host to the Artists United Against Corruption (AUAC) Forum on Wednesday, 16 September 2015. This forms part of the series of activities leading up to the marches in Pretoria and Cape Town on Wednesday, 30 September 2015.

The initiative was first proposed in early June 2015 as a way to tackle the “spiraling levels” of corruption in South Africa. Since its inception, more and more people have expressed their support for the call to unite against corruption. The objective of the movement is to bring together large swathes of society to make a public stand for an end to corruption.
Three ad hoc committees exist in Johannesburg (co-ordinated by Gita Pather), Durban (co-ordinated by Nadia Meer) and Cape Town (co-ordinated by Mike van Graan) to help mobilise artists’ involvement in the campaign; both in the actual marches and in contributing creatively or financially to the campaign.

There were creative activations done by DUT students and Centre for Fine Art, Animation and Design (CFAD) visual artists at the DUT City Campus which entailed students making large chalk drawings in the courtyard and releasing balloons with messages that were dropped into the courtyard. Durban music group ASPIRE performed some of their melodies before the start of the panel discussion.

Other issues raised at the forum pertained to having more transparent regulation of public procurement, to the extent of having special courts for adjudicating tender disputes.
Meer was happy with the turnout to the forum and said it was a huge success. “The great attendance, energy and enthusiasm demonstrated by youth was most encouraging,” she said.

A day of action is being planned for Wednesday, 30 September 2015, with two mass marches being scheduled for Pretoria and Cape Town.

For further information about the Unite Against Campaign, go to www.uniteagainstcorruption.co.za.
-Waheeda Peters

Pictured: DUT students along with Nadia Meer and CFAD students during the activation for the Unite Against Campaign (UAC) at the DUT City Campus.

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