Hundreds of cultural and creative practitioners are marching in Pretoria today, protesting what they describe as a decline in transparency within the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. The demonstrators, part of the Cultural and Creative Industries March, gathered at the Union Buildings before proceeding to the department’s national offices, where they plan to hand over a memorandum of demands. The protest forms part of a national day of protest and performance, reflecting months of dissatisfaction in the sector. Spokesperson Zama Ntshona says, “As the cultural and creative practitioners, we have arrived in Tshwane in numbers and we’re ready to march to the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture today. Today we’ll march against systemic failures that have plagued our beloved, cultural and creative sector under the reign of Minister Gayton Mackenzie.” Ntshona also raised concerns about exclusion within key programmes. “Today, we take a stand against the many artists that have been unjustly marginalised within the Mzansi Golden Economy Programme, as the rules are being changed at will, without legal authority, further sidelining our creative practitioners. Today we will march against the disturbing trend of diminishing transparency,” Ntshona says.