The Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture has confessed that he was the one who was involved in issuing of R1 Million fund to the actress, Natasha Thahane who went to study overseas.

Thahane has been under fire and dragged a lot on social media following her confession during the interview on Podcast and Chill with MacG few months back.

Natasha mistakenly said that the former Parliament speaker and ANC chairperson, Baleka Mbete played a role in ensuring that she gets the fund to study overseas.

The actress, who is Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s granddaughter, said that she called Mbete, informed her that she is going back to school and she has accepted at a institution overseas, she needs funds and she had no clue what to do. The actress told MacG that she asked Mbete to pull some strings and get her funding.

She went on to say that Mbete managed to speak to the Department of Arts and Culture who then were able to pay her.

Mthethwa was answering questions in the parliament, he denied Mbete’s involment in the matter. He said that the request for Natasha’s funds to study in United States were made directly to him.

He was responding to the written replies in parliament from the EFF MP, Khaya Ceza who wanted all the details about the funding and the alleged role of the former Parliament speaker.

Mthethwa cleared Mbete and said his department was not aware of Mbete’s role in this matter of securing Thahane’a request of fees.

He reiterated that Thahane made the request directly to him for financial support towards studies at the New York film Academy. He added by saying that Thahane’s request is not something new as there are always other requests like this made to his office by the public because they know him as the political head of the public.

In 2017, the funding was then approved by the director general for the Institutional governance of his department. Mthethwa said the funding came with the terms and conditions from his department to her and it was that she should complete her studies.

After Thahane was criticised on social media, she later changed her tune and said she had no personal relationship with Mbete. She merely asked for relationship advice and she referred her to the department of Arts and Culture.