Fighting corruption through the arts

United by poems, plays and passion, artists tackle corruption head-on at a Joburg performance

- Rolland Simpi Motaung

The use of the arts as a vehicle to fight sociopolitical problems is a familiar feature in South Africa.

The arts allow for discontent to be interrogated and expressed in a palatable way, for the ordinary person to easily consume, learn and, hopefully, heal.

Although it is one of the thorns that affects the daily lives of South Africans, corruption has largely become normalised.

"Throughout South Africa's history, we know that the arts have played a pivotal role in activating citizens and been used as a medium of bringing citizens together under the banner of different social justice causes — and it has a way of breaking through without offending," says Joanna Atkinson during our interview.

With a presence in more than 120 countries, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit provides services in the field of international development and cooperation.

Atkinson is the communications adviser for the Transparency, Integrity & Accountability Programme (TIP), an anti-corruption project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. The programme is implemented in South Africa by her organisation.

Atkinson says TIP has three pillars.

"The first one is active citizenry, second is institution development and the other is multi-stakeholder partnerships. So, in our pillar of active citizenry, the TIP conceptualised this idea of involving the arts sector, hence Artists Against Corruption."

The initiative culminated in a final show hosted at the Market Theatre Laboratory in Johannesburg last week, aimed at involving the arts in the fight against corruption in South Africa, with a view to shifting social norms and behaviours that perpetuate the culture of corruption.

Last year, TIP started conceptualising Artists Against Corruption by initiating discussions with various groups in the arts sector.