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Artists call for re-opening of theatres amid COVID-19

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Artists affiliated to the Culture and Creative Industries Federation of South Africa are calling for the re-opening of theatres and other entertainment venues which were closed at the start of the nationwide lockdown earlier this year.

They are also demanding that government ease lockdown regulations limiting the number of people at events. The artists picketed at the historic Hoffman Square and the High Court in Bloemfontein in solidarity with artists arrested for staging a protest in Durban last week .

“We need theatres to open so that we are back at work and feed our families.  My plea, I am an actor, I am a film maker. I want to use the space at PACOFS, I wanna use the space to do the work I am doing.”

In East London, more artists under the banner of the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of South Africa, also held a picket in solidarity with the arrested artists who blockaded the route in Durban.

35 people have been arrested, many of them are believed to be well-known artists, after they blockaded the N3 near the Pavillion, west of Durban.

Traffic was severely disrupted during lunchtime when both directions were blocked allegedly by musicians and performing artists who had embarked on a protest.

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