Minister launches wellness programme for NC artists and athletes
THE MINISTER of Sport, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, said that mental health was one of the biggest challenges affecting artists and athletes.
Mthethwa was speaking at the launch of the Silapha wellness intervention programme in the Province at the Northern Cape Theatre in Kimberley on November 3.
He said the programme aimed to assist sports and creative workers, at no cost, to deal with mental health, substance abuse, financial management, legal matters and lifestyle management.
Mthethwa added that the programme was being implemented together with the department’s gender-based violence and femicide programmes.
“These are Golekane - a men-led programme driving behavioural change amongst men, as well as Baqhawafazi - which is aimed at giving a voice to survivors of gender-based violence,” said Mthethwa. “We want to see a dramatic drop in women murders and cases of femicide.”
Mthethwa said that since the launch of the wellness programme in 2021 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the department had assisted 1,911 practitioners through its dedicated call centre toll-free line.
“We’ve also touched 1,900 practitioners through our interface outreach provincial activations, totalling 3,811 sport and creative sector practitioners helped. Their various problems range from legal issues, critical incidences, addictive disorder, financial problems and the most prominent being mental health-related challenges.”
The Northern Cape MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture, Desery Fienies, stated that they were looking into rolling out the programme to all five districts of the Province in the form of district activation programmes.
“it is imperative that we ensure that we reach out to all our athletes and artists in every corner of the Province,” she said.
.
