Arts and Culture Trust of the President

Popularly known by its acronym - ACT. This is a private sector initiative which provides financial support for the development, promotion and celebration of South African arts and culture.

In 1994, the newly established Ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology responded to an invitation from Nedcor Bank and Sun International to set up a body for arts and culture, similar to the Sports and Green Trusts, which were established earlier. In this way, the first three Founding Trustees came together to secure financial and other resources for arts and culture, and to project the needs and role of the sector into the public domain. The interest accrued from capital investments was to be used to fund cultural projects in all the disciplines, across the country. At the same time, a Board of Trustees, made up of leading art practitioners and administrators, was established. Former President Nelson Mandela served as the Patron-in-Chief of ACT and it was called the Arts and Culture Trust of the President during his term of office. During the first five years, two further Founding Trustees - the Royal Netherlands Embassy and Vodacom - joined ACT.

Renamed the Arts and Culture Trust under the Thabo Mbeki presidentship.

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