Niemand Commission

(Offically known as The Commission of Inquiry into the Performative Arts in South Africa of 1975.) This was a commission appointed by the state and arsising from the inability of the Performing Arts Councils to manage their work within the budgets available at the beginning of the 1970s. On 18 April 1975 Government Notice No 762 was issued wherein the State President appointed a commission of inquiry to report on the development of the performing arts as means of cultural enrichment of the South African society. The commission was to be chaired by Justice J.H. Niemand and consisted of J.G van der Merwe, J.D. Marx, H.J. Coetzee, C.D. Fuchs, D.P. Inskip, C.G. Kerr and M.J. Gobbelaar. The secretary was Doris Breytenbach. ,  The focus was  to be on: (1) the need for training facilities for artists, technicians, theatre specialists, etc., (2) the staffing requirements of he Performing Arts Councils over the next decade, (3) the financing of the PAC's and an estimate of their requirements over the next decade, (4) the geographical borders within which each PAC should operate, (5) the extent to which the rights of the two official languages are catered for and an outline of the cultural needs of the two language groups, (6) the protection of the current high moral and religious values of South Africa in productions, and (7) the possibility of co-ordinating and making opera, ballet, drama and musical facilities available nationally. standards, language issues and the moral implications of the performing arts. Memorandums were received from more than 250 people and organisations over the two years, among which were numerous state and semi-state institutions, including the Institute for Languages, Literature and the Arts at the Human Sciences Research Council, the managements of commercial theatre, the SA Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Co-ordinating Council for the Performing Arts?*, as well as heads of state departments, rectors and professors of universities and well known artists and theatre practitioners. Commission members H.J. Coetzee and Michal Grobbelaar also undertook a trip to Europe to to gather information on causes and results of decentralisation of performing arts bodies through government intervention. While there had been a strong push for the founding of a National Arts Council (along the lines of the British Arts Council) by many of the submissions, the fragmented structures of educational and cultural management in Apartheid South Africa prevented the commission from making the proposal. The final report was published by the Government in 1977, and then basically ignored by the government. (See Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Performative Arts in South Africa, No ***, 1977; Niemand in Hauptfleisch, 1985); **) [TH; FdV]

NTO Maraissentrum – hoofkantore v/d NTO open 8 Feb 1958. Geopen deur mev Susan Strydom eggenote v 1 e Minister. NTO: Ontstaan in 1947. Maraissentrum – hoofkantore v/d NTO open 8 Feb 1958. Geopen deur mev Susan Strydom eggenote v 1 e Minister. PPB (direkteur) & prof WJ Erlank (lid v/d Beheerraad) & prof G Cronje (Voorsitter), Michal Grobbelaar Tegniese adviseur bevorder tot produksiebestuurder van Afr, opvoerings en Victor Melleney vir Eng. Lg is ‘n Brit wat in 1958 hier aangekom het. Baie ondervinding by reeks teaters in London.

Return to
Return to South African Theatre Venues, Companies, Societies, etc

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page