Honourable Speaker
Honourable Premier
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Magosi
Senior Managers of the department
Chairpersons of Councils, Federations, Associations and Clubs
Sports and Cultural Personalities
Ladies and Gentlemen
Honourable Speaker, we are pleased to stand before you and your honourable house to present our Departmental Budget Speech for the financial year 2012/13.
We are humbled by this opportunity to make a contribution to the provincial government’s efforts to better the lives of our communities under the leadership of our Premier, Mme Thandi Modise. We do this with an understanding that the challenges facing our people require collective efforts and unity of purpose to be addressed.
We also understand, Honourable Speaker, that for this department to make a meaningful contribution to the improvement of the lives of our people and specifically deliver on its mandate, it will have to embark on a serious clean-up process within its administration. Members of this house and the general public may be aware of the on-going investigations and suspensions of some senior officials within the department.
Our point of departure is therefore to bring stability within the department and ensure that our energies and resources are focused on delivering quality services for the benefit of our people. We therefore wish to make an undertaking to this honourable house that all investigations and suspensions will be attended to and finalised swiftly to end the current state of paralysis within the department. This will be done in consultation and support from the Office of the Premier.
Honourable Speaker, we have taken queue from our national departments and have set our priorities and programmes which we believe will benefit our Sporting and Cultural communities in our province.
The National Department of Sport and Recreation has finally unveiled the National Sport and Recreation Plan (NSRP) while the National Department of Arts and Culture unveiled the Mzansi Golden Economy Strategy. These two key documents will be the main pillars guiding our programmes as we try to turn the department around for effective and faster service delivery.
Guided by these two key documents mentioned, we intend to return to basics and do simple things right. We will continue to support the Minister of Sport and Recreation’s vision to use sport to foster social cohesion and nation building. This vision is also underpinned by the understanding that sport can be used to stimulate investments and the economic regeneration of our communities.
The department will also on the other side support the drive by the National Minister of Arts and Culture to position the culture and creative industry as one of the main drivers of economic growth and job creation in our province. It is our intention to ensure that our province benefit from this national drive given the fact that we already have abundant talent and proven track record in the arts and culture sector.
Honourable Speaker, for this financial year, the department will be guided by the following principles: Through Sport and recreation, we will cultivate and harness the energy of our youth to give them hope and space to maximise their talents. We will ensure that across our province, in both urban and rural areas, sporting facilities and programmes are available to keep our youth and the general public active and healthy.
We are concerned, Honourable Speaker, that multitude of our youth are at the forefront of protestations for lack of jobs and under development. We need to provide hope and nurture their talents through Sport in order to widen their choices and chances to succeed in life. The energy of our youth must be seen in good light but should be guided and channelled to good use.
Through Arts, we need to harness the creativity of our communities and reflect our true talent as a province. We must use this creativity and talent to put the province on the map and in the process create economic activities for our livelihood. It is time that those who are gifted in arts are supported and given a platform to shine. As they shine, so will our communities and our province.
We must also remind our people that Creative Arts is the new way to create livelihood and wealth. No artist must leave this world a pauper, artistic creativity must also be a means through which our people can put bread on the table.
Through Culture, we need to return to our roots and build progressive communities made up of principled families and cultured people. We need to reconnect with our traditional leaders and pay homage to our diverse culture and roots. Our province has a rich cultural foundation from which we can build.
Included in this drive will be the need to preserve our historic places and heritage sites in the province.
Honourable Speaker, may I take this opportunity to remind the house and the general public that 2012 has been declared the year of Heritage by the National Department of Arts and Culture. In line with this declaration, the Department will in the near future unveil planned activities to celebrate the year of Heritage. In line with the national theme, our province will also pay particular attention to our Liberation Heritage.
This will include honouring liberation heroes and heroines of our province such as Moses Kotane, Solomon Plaatjie, Ngaka Modiri Molema, Dr. Ruth Mompati, Mme Buyelwa Modimogale, Rre Dan Tlome, Rre Kgosi Geroge Montshioa, Rre kgosi Moroka and Mme Thandi Modise, and many others who will be identified through public inputs.
We will in the near future present a concept document to both the Speaker and the Honourable Premier detailing planned activities to honour our Liberation Heroes in the context of the centenary of the oldest liberation movement in continent, the African National Congress. By doing this we will dispel any unfounded notion that this province or its people were spectators during the days of liberation struggle. It is time for our liberation heroes to be given due recognition by their own province. Where possible, these heroes will also be invited to serve in structures to provide guidance and contribute to the recording of our liberation history in the province.
Budget Allocation for Priority Projects
Honourable Speaker, the total budget allocation for the financial year 2012/13 is R447 106 million. The allocated budget is obviously not enough and will clearly present challenges to our ability to implement our programmes. We will however not dwell in excuses but rather try to achieve more with what we have.
For the current financial year, we have indentified 5 priorities which will be at the centre of our turn around. The identified priorities are as follows:
- Gateway Project- Liberation Route
- Infrastructure projects: currently in progress to be finalised in October 2012. Libraries in Lomanyaneng, Gannalagte, Pudimoe, Tlokweng, Letsopa. Sports complexes in Manthe and Ipelegeng:
- R3, 5 million
- With Tlaakgameng and Motla in a planning phase.
- R21million
- Sport Mass Participation and School Sports: R36 million .
- Re-engineering of the Arts Activities through the arts and culture Indaba and Awards. Revitalisation of the Cultural Calabash and Mmabana:
- Archives Management:
- R3,6 million .
- R6 million
Allocation to Programmes
1. Administration and Support
Honourable Speaker, the aim of this programme is to provide strategic leadership and support to core programmes in the department. In the previous presentation to the house, the department reported the need to strengthen management and put systems in place to ensure that the core business of the department is achieved.
We are pleased to report that the department is making progress in rebuilding staff moral and cleaning the administration. New policies have since been formulated and put in place to address, amongst others, areas of Monitoring and Evaluation, Gender Mainstreaming, Human Resource, Security and Anti-corruption. The Elderly People Programmes are infused in the departmental programmes to foster better understanding of aging employees and their challenges.
The department will be following-up with a comprehensive training session for all role players involved to ensure that policies, procedures and requirements are fully understood, and can be implemented successfully.
In our effort to reduce vacancy rate within the department, out of 133 posts advertised, we managed to fill 124. The process of filling the remaining vacant and funded posts is still in progress.
During the past financial year, the department has successfully implemented three key learnerships, namely:
- The Film and Television Learnership: This is specifically for the unemployed youth. It will prepare the 21 selected youth to become film makers after the completion of the programme.
- The Performing Arts Learnership: This will be implemented during the current financial year. The Learnership is also for unemployed youth and 16 learners are enrolled.
- The New Venture Creation Learnership: This learnership will be implemented and finalised during this financial year. It is specifically designed for learners who have participated in previous Learnerships, such as Sport Turf maintenance, Tour Guiding and Performing Arts programs within the department. A total of forty four learners have been placed. The Learnership focuses specifically on starting new enterprises to enable them to establish new enterprises related to the core skills they have acquired.
Honourable Speaker, this programme will continue to support the rest of the department and also contribute to service delivery and good governance. The improvement of systems and controls and the development of policies, Risk management services, prudent Financial and Human capital development services will continue to be the focus of this programme.
2. Arts, Culture, Libraries and Archives
Honourable Speaker, this Programme consists of Cultural Affairs, Libraries and Archives. It is through this programme that we will give practical expression to the National Department of Arts and Culture’s Mzansi Golden Economy Strategy whose mission is:
- Developing, protecting, preserving and promoting South African arts, culture and heritage,
- Providing access to information,
- Promoting the official languages of South Africa and enhancing the linguistic diversity of the country, and
- Facilitating social cohesion and inclusivity.
Honourable Speaker, the National Strategy alluded to, assets that “Opportunities in, and benefits from, arts and culture are not only social in nature but can also be economic. The arts and cultural sector applies creative practice to projects involving other sectors in ways which generate social and economic benefits. The sector contributes to the economy through creative thinking, employment, sales, export and cultural tourism. New opportunities are emerging through cross art-form practice, digital technologies and platforms as well as value adding partnerships with other industries.”
The department will therefore pay particular attention to aspects of the Strategy which will best suite our provincial arts and culture environment. We need to ensure that our institutional arrangements are in order, our administrator are capacitated and that artist and crafters start to see their trade as a contributor to the economy as opposed to leisure and a time passing hobby.
We are also required to think “outside the box” and explore creative means of growing the economy through Creative Arts. It is a fact that a department such as ours will always be the least funded, but that should not mean it should be the least contributor to the economy and service delivery.
The department will from now on, explore creative ways of augmenting the allocated budget by, amongst other things, partnering with the private sector, other departments and funding agencies to support developmental aspects of Arts and Culture.
In his Budget Speech, the Minister of Arts and Culture made a clear commitment that the Mzansi Golden Economy Strategy will enhance the sector’s contribution to the national effort for job creation. We will ensure that our provincial arts and culture sector is not left behind.
Honourable Speaker, in the last financial year the department embarked on an outreach and awareness programme involving Arts, Culture, Language, Museums, Heritage, Libraries and Archives. This was done to extend our reach to all official stakeholders and general consumers of our services.
Our indigenous dance and music groups participated in various activities in the Province and where accordingly supported by the department to ensure talent development.
We are pleased to report progress on the Museums and Heritage division during the last financial year. The number of museums and heritage structures supported, heritage sites identified and promoted by the department exceeded the targets set.
The increased educational programmes and number of people visiting our heritage sites and the number of collections acquired, documented and upgraded in museums is a living testimony to the reception of our communities to these programmes. These heritage programmes were also geared towards achieving social cohesion.
We intend to by all means sustain this positive development as we intensify our resolve to preserve our heritage and promote our museums in our province and beyond.
In the last financial year, the department, in conjunction with the National Heritage Council successfully hosted the North West Chapter of the National Liberation Heritage Route Summit in Rustenburg. As a follow-up, the department will implement the Gateway Project – Liberation Route in the current financial year.
Part of the research already completed for the project includes the identification of additional heritage sites linked to the participation of the people of our province in the struggle and identification of graves and remains of iconic personalities who were involved in the struggle in the province. The project will further help retrace and record escape routes used by the liberation heroes to escape to Botswana and other neighbouring countries.
Honourable Speaker we hope to culminate this project with the writing of a book about the liberation heroes of our province which hopefully will be launched in August 2012.
Honourable Members, the department is making efforts to preserve our languages as part of our heritage and continue to support institutions tasked with this responsibility. We are also pleased to report that the Provincial Language Committee has been successfully established. The Sign language fora have also been established in all districts to ensure inclusion and representation of these special groups in our communities.
Linking our departmental objectives with national priorities, the department continues to deliver libraries to our communities. To date, we have 103 Libraries across the province and can firmly confirm that we are on course to provide access to information to our people. Our nation should therefore not perish due to lack of information.
Infrastructure for Information, Communication Technology (ICT) was installed in forty four (44) libraries, Twenty one (21) libraries were provided with Public Internet Access, during the year under review. Two hundred and two (202) computer equipments were provided to community libraries.
Sita Library Information Management System (SLIMS) was implemented in twelve (12) community libraries. Just under Eleven Million Rand (R11m) was spent on purchasing Fifty Nine Thousand (59 000) books and other information materials for community libraries. A total of ninety thousand (90 000) specialised library stationery were purchased.
Theme-based programmes to create reading awareness and library promotion continued to be held in community libraries. Two hundred and fifty six programmes were held in community libraries during the reporting period with almost fifteen thousand participants.
A workshop on manuscript writing as a follow up to the Setswana programme was held early this year. The intention is to publish a book written by different members within our communities, which will be purchased by the department for community libraries in the Province.
The department embarked on a programme to realise the full utilisation of the Archives building in 2011. Within this programme, the Provincial Archives and Records Bill has been developed and the Records Management Policy and File Plan for the department is in place. In addition, the Provincial Records Management Policy has been developed. This project is being rolled out to other departments in the province to ensure that the Archives materials and Records are properly managed in the province.
Honourable Speaker, this programme will, as its key Strategic Objective, continue to support the Arts, preserves our Culture and Heritage. We are planning to re-engineer the Arts and Culture sector through the hosting of the Provincial Arts and Culture Indaba that will be held in this financial year. The aim of this Indaba is to ensure that we develop an all-inclusive strategy for the Provincial Arts and Culture Sector.
Library Infrastructure and Archives
Honourable Speaker, the Library Conditional Grant provides the expansion of Library and Information services to most communities in rural areas and the department remains committed to deliver a better life for all through this programme. Through this Conditional Grant, the department aims to deliver five additional libraries which are currently under construction and to be completed in October 2012.
These projects took off in February 2012 and the progress is satisfactory. Three libraries from previous years have been completed in Lebaleng, Tlokwe and Mogwase with one officially opened in Moretele (Dertig) in March 2012. Two additional Libraries are in a planning stage in Tlaakgameng and Mmotla for this financial year.
The department will progressively engage the Archives and Records management services with the aim of finalising the archives material in the Provincial Archives building in Mahikeng.
3. Sport and Recreation
Honourable Speaker, Sport in our country has entered an interesting phase with the adoption of the first ever National Sport and Recreation Plan (NSRP), with the Transformation Charter and its stated Scorecards, under Minister of Sport and Recreation, Honourable Fikile Mbalula.
The Minister, during his Budget Speech, stated that “the Sport Plan seeks to reposition our functional efficiencies, accelerate service delivery, enhance organisational excellence and inject new performance energy whilst at the same time capitalising on the renewed commitment by all our stakeholders to transform and improve sport and recreation.
We intend to take queue from this Plan and galvanise our provincial sport and recreation fraternity to ready themselves for action. We will specifically focus on driving national department’s new vision were the key strategic priorities are strongly focussed on Transformation, School Sport and Mass Participation in our country with the aim of developing and unlocking talent at grassroots level, nurture such talent and ultimately produce athletes with an international competitive edge. This vision will be used to inspire provincial efforts as a contribution to the national goals.
Honourable Speaker, focusing on our performance in the last financial year, the following can be noted: The department held Rural Games which focused on the farming and rural communities as well as organised Women in Sport games which specifically targeted the development of the girl child. We also held Club Development games where we focussed on formation of clubs in rural and marginalised communities.
The department also participated in the Siyadlala programme, Golden Oldies Games, Indigenous Games and also sent teams to take part in the Intellectually Impaired National Games and the Physically Challenged National Games. We will continue to support these teams and also ensure that we make the games accessible to more designated groups as part of our sport mass mobilisation drive.
Honourable Speaker, we must strongly emphasise that in this financial year we will be intensifying our drive for School Sport. The latter has been identified as a priority by the national department. This programme is identified as the bedrock of the National Sport Development Strategy and the cornerstone of the National Sport Plan going forward.
We will shortly announce our provincial plans after consultation with relevant stakeholders such as Department of Education in the province to take the School Sport Programme to a higher level. We hope that through this programme we will increase access to school sport and improve the province’s performance nationally and even internationally.
The department will also fast track the establishment and regularisation of sport bodies in the province to ensure coherence in the sporting fraternity. The Provincial Sport Council will be launched and all Provincial Sporting Federation will be consulted with a view of organising them under one umbrella.
Honourable Speaker, we take this opportunity as a province to wish Team South Africa success in the forthcoming London Olympics. We particularly wish to congratulate our North West based participants, Mr Simon Magakwe 100 and 200m,Lebogang Moeng-200m, MissTsholofelo Thipe- 200m, Sunnette Viljoen -Javelin, Sullette Damons- ladies hockey, Melanie Barnard- Athletics, Hannes De Walt- Athletics.
Paralympics- Wheelchair Basket Ball. Gift Mooketsi, Cecil Dumond, Thandile Zonke, Bongikosi Witbooi. Who will be part of Team South Africa. Their being there is a true testimony of availability of talent in our province and will further encourage our provincial athletes to aspire for same achievement.
4. Departmental Entities
Honourable Speaker, the department is currently reviewing the governance and operational framework of its entities. We have already assessed the activities of Mmabana Arts, Culture and Sport Foundation and the Provincial Arts and Cultural Council (PACC). We have already taken a decision to transfer some of the roles previously executed by PACC to the Mmabana Foundation. We have also infused the function of the Craft and Design Institute to the Mmabana Foundation. Included in the Arts and Culture Programme allocation, is an amount of R50,4 million for Mmabana and the R3 million for the North West Provincial Arts and Culture Council (PACC).
We also intend to start negotiations with the North-West University with a view of entering into a collaboration partnership regarding Mmabana Foundation’s programme offerings. Our view is that collaboration between the two institutions will be mutually beneficial considering that the university offers mainly theoretical fine arts programmes while our Mmabana offers practical art and craft offerings.
Honourable Speaker, we are not oblivious to the problems currently besetting Mmabana. My office is currently studying the forensic report which was commissioned by my predecessor and the memorandum of grievances submitted to the Office of the Premier by the employees regarding their conditions of service.
We will in the next few weeks pronounce on the remedial actions to be taken to return the institution to normality and ensure that it starts to deliver on its mandate. I’m personally saddened by the way this historically successful institution is being reduced to a shadow of its former self to the detriment of our artist. I believe something drastic must be done and indeed it shall be done!
Programme allocations
The budget breakdown for the department is as follows:
1. Management and Administration : R 77,5 million
2. Cultural Affairs: R 110, 4 million
3. Library and Archives Services: R 122, 2 million
4. Sport and Recreation: R 136, 8 million
5. Total Budget: R 447,1 million
Conclusion
Let me end by thanking my political party, the ANC and our Premier Mme Thandi Modise for giving me an opportunity to be part of a collective, tasked with a responsibility of leading service delivery in our province. It’s not always easy, Honourable Premier, but as cadres of this 100 year old movement we draw inspiration from those who came before us and faced blazing guns and ridicule from those opposed to the liberation of our people.
We thank the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Honourable Fenny Motladile and other members of committee.
I wish to pass my gratitude to my staff in the department, led by the HOD, Mme Desiree Tlhoele who had to work around the clock to orientate me as a new incumbent and prepare me for this day.
I also wish to thank family especially my pillar of strength, mother Keitumetsi Modise and my kids Bolelang, Thobet and koketso Modise, my partner Sello for your undivided support, and lastly the Motswasele family.
Thank you!
