It taken almost a year, two sessions in the high court and one in the Supreme Court of Appeal – which is likely to come at a heavy cost to the taxpayer – for the National Arts Council to finally agree to meet its contractual undertaking to fund the National Arts Festival to the tune of R8m. The money will benefit hundreds of struggling artists in the Eastern Cape and elsewhere who have battled to find any work since the Covid-19 pandemic reached South Africa’s shores in 2019.