Censorship!

Government’s New Act Gags Creative Artists

By Khanyile Mlotshwa

CONT Mhlanga has described his arrest and short detention by the police as a move by the government to strangle creative arts in the country.

“It all comes with the national arts council act which demands that venue, product and performers be licensed,” Mhlanga said in an interview with  amakhosi.org.

The government recently passed the statutory instrument number 87 of 2006, which is meant to govern the conduct of arts associations and promoters. Under the law, unlicensed arts individuals, groups and associations as well as nightclubs, restaurants and hotels without a promoter’s licence will be charged.

“For me, a person who has worked in the industry for so many years, the law has its good and bad sides,” he said. “It is however a nice move coming at a bad time, with ought wide consultations with artists and with the intentions of controlling arts. It is sad that it is coming at this time when a dark cloud is hovering over the arts.”

Mhlanga said the act means that the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) can be put under pressure by state’s secret agents to selectively guarantee licences to performers and arts promoters that are pro government only and shutting out those that are critical.

‘What does the nation think of a scenario where the Censorship Board licenses  the production of Pregnant With Emotion while the state agents are detaining the producers and performers for questioning over the same play? Tells a lot, doesn’t it?’ asked Mhlanga. 

The NACZ is a government department that was instituted to see to the development of arts and culture in the country. The department has however the years remained dormant as a development agent but more active as a regulatory board. The new law may boost that image.    

“The law also confuses the role of the censorship board and may become an extension of the board. Most probably it is meant to cover the gap left by the ineffectiveness of the board,” Mhlanga said.

The new law by the government may just serve to confuse other laws as has happened with the media where a journalist can be charged under three laws for one crime.

Mhlanga noted that because of state manipulation, the law might cripple a lot of creativity until the politics of the country changes. 

He said the motivation and nature of the law is such that it will frustrate efforts to tap into the indigenous knowledge as held by old people.

“For me theatre is not just a part time. It is scholarly work in cultural development. In my outreach work through the Theatre for Community Action (TCA) I have worked with indigenous knowledge databases like old people in their imizi (homes). The idea has been to take indigenous knowledge to inspire people into action. The knowledge that can help African people is in the villages with old people and to get it people should be made aware of its existence. That has sent shivers with the state believing that we are hiding behind culture to sensitize people of their political situations.”

He said he saw nothing wrong with the plays that were being blocked, as they were good and relevant plays.

“The biggest problem with some of the government officials is that they are employed to make promises to the people and want to be judged by what they promise and not by what they deliver,” Mhlanga noted.

“As artists all we want is freedom to perform and dialogue so that we take people into their heritage to find solutions from their own world, in a sense bring modern information to the service of old values,” he said. “And then to be accused of being subversive!