Durban — The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC) has created the Silapha Wellness Intervention programme which focuses on addressing the mental, emotional, psychological and physical well-being of all artists and athletes.
The Silapha programme aims to assist artists and athletes deal with issues that are difficult to discuss and which can lead to depression, suicide or substance abuse.
The KwaZulu-Natal leg of the programme was launched at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban on Tuesday.
DSAC deputy director-general Stella Khumalo said a pilot programme started in February 2021 to reach out to artists and athletes after the Covid-19 pandemic that forced them to stay at home and stopped them giving performances due to restrictions.
“More than 1 000 artists have been helped through the programme. Artists and athletes are hardly supported when they mention mental suffering and they are hardly taken seriously.
“It’s like people forget they are also humans first before any other thing, and that is why the department came up with the programme to offer them help and hope,” she said.
The intervention is made up of five pillars, which include legal advice that helps artists and athletes look at their contracts, insurance disputes and also civil matters.
Another pillar is mental health management, which offers psychosocial support counselling via telephone or face-to-face. A lifestyle management pillar provides the creatives with health-care programmes, rehabilitation and long-term wellness education.
Financial management is also provided, offering counselling and coaching on debt management, tax compliance and financial planning.
The last pillar is substance abuse management, which offers counselling to help quit the habit and admit they have a substance problem.
One of the ambassadors and artists helped by the programme is singer Genesis “Gigi Lamayne” Manney. The artist, who has a degree from Wits in anthropology, said she was dealing with social anxiety and faced an issue in November 2018 where she wanted to end it all. She said she was dealing with a toxic relationship.
“I felt everything tumbling down. As a result I was hospitalised and had pills pumped from my stomach. I was then diagnosed with severe clinical depression on top of my social anxiety and I had to go into isolation and had my phone taken, because technology also plays a huge role in depression. This programme has helped me a lot.”
Salome Nyako, a therapist who helps artists and athletes get through dark times, was one of the guests at the programme.
“We assure artists it is a safe space to open up,” she said.
“We help them learn to control their emotions, we let them know they deserve a chance.”
Daily News