December and the unmistakable buzz of a South African summer are finally here, and many are slowing down enough to notice the creative world around us.
We enjoy the art and celebrate the artists, but do we back them?
We should, because South Africa’s creative and cultural industries are not a side show but a quiet powerhouse that rarely receives the long-term investment it deserves. The sector contributes nearly 3% to our GDP, worth more than R160bn, and supports close to one million jobs.
The world has already recognised South African artists, both emerging and established, who are present in major galleries and auction houses. Vladimir Tretchikoff’s painting, Lady from the Orient, sold for R31-million and Marlene Dumas’ Miss January went for R230-million in New York earlier this year.
But behind the global applause lies a local fragility we do not talk about enough. The South African art market is at an inflection point. After the post-apartheid boom, the sector is now globally integrated but locally strained. Whether the South African market can now sustain the talent it produces largely depends on capital and not creativity.
Like any industry, art needs patient funding, returning buyers, and institutions that build ecosystems rather than simply host fancy events. Experts have long argued that African countries must strengthen internal financing for artists instead of relying on foreign capital and shifting global trends.
Visit galleries. Support art education. Buy a print from an emerging artist online. Commission a piece. Give art instead of imported novelty items. This is not performative culture. It is economic and cultural nation-building
South Africa’s geopolitical tilt toward Asia could open new paths for our artists, but only if we simultaneously fortify the home front, which is already under pressure. We know disposable income is tight, and households are stretched.
Art is wrongly framed as a luxury, but the surprise of 2025 is that demand hasn’t vanished but simply changed shape. Interest in African art is accelerating. Younger collectors, especially a growing black middle class, are not only asking what art costs but what it means.
Digital platforms have enabled this shift, helping loosen the old gatekeeping model, where visibility depended on the endorsement of a handful of traditional galleries.
One example is collector Sandile Xayiya, who doesn’t view art merely as an asset class but as custodianship, preserving African heritage through a family collection. He says access is the main barrier many feel but few admit.
For too many South Africans, art still appears exclusive, only for the elite, and that perception is harmful. It becomes a psychological wall that keeps the very people who should form a sustainable collector base on the outside looking in.
This is why the most exciting part of the solution is emerging online. Platforms such as Latitudes Online are transforming how South Africans discover and buy art. By connecting independent artists, smaller galleries, and non-profits to global and local audiences, they’re widening the market from the bottom up.
As head of sales Denzo Nyathi notes, the breakthrough lies in affordability and access that cultivates new collectors and people who buy art because they care about culture, not just financial return.
This doesn’t overshadow the giants whose names carry our global reputation. The legacies of Gerard Sekoto, William Kentridge, George Pemba and Nandipha Mntambo remain essential, but a thriving ecosystem cannot depend on legacy alone. It must champion what comes next.
Mfezeko Gumada, Zandile Tshabalala, Elliot Sithole, Heidi Fourie, and Naledi Maifala, the 2025 Anna Award winner, have huge global ambitions that are well within reach if we strengthen the ecosystem around them. The question should be: how do we support these artists to exhibit their works on global stages like the Venice Biennale or Art Basel?
Which brings us back to this festive season and placing art back into our collective imagination. Visit galleries. Support art education. Buy a print from an emerging artist online. Commission a piece. Give art instead of imported novelty items. This is not performative culture. It is economic and cultural nation-building. Every purchase, big or small, contributes to an artist’s livelihood, to the creative economy, and to the preservation of our story.
The platforms exist. The talent is undeniable. The only missing ingredient is our willingness to look closer to home. As Xayiya puts it: “African art is becoming a staple in international homes, but when will it become a staple in ours?”
• Mtwentwe AGA(SA) is MD of Vantage Advisory and host of the SAICABiz Impact Podcast
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