A person believed to have stolen millions of rand from the Living Legends Legacy Programme has been arrested, the arts and culture department said on Saturday.

The man, whose permanent address is in Johannesburg, was arrested in by the Hawks in Durban on Saturday, said Minister Nathi Mthethwa's spokesperson Asanda Magaqa.

The programme was launched in 2015 by the Department of Arts and Culture to honour "living legends" in the arts, culture and heritage sector.

It emerged in January that R8m had been siphoned and stolen from the Living Legends Trust bank account.

"I stated this in January and I am stating it once more that a theft of such grand scale has occurred is in itself atrocious. But that this theft has occurred against this nation’s 'Living Legends'; our Living Treasures - whom the Department of Arts and Culture is supporting precisely because as a nation we owe them so much - leaves me in shocked disbelief," Mthethwa said in a statement.

He said he was very relieved to hear that a suspect was now in custody.

"The Department of Arts and Culture is continuing to engage the bank in question, because it absolutely has to account as to how a bank account that is subject to stringent controls in addition to existing strict banking regulations could be compromised in this manner. We will not rest until we have all the answers we seek including relief in the form of recovery of monies lost."

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