N Botha: Launch of Events and Technical Services Task Team

13 July 2006

Programme Director
Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Members of the Executive Council
Head of Departments
Representatives from key stakeholder organisations
Officials from Government Departments
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

In his inaugural address in May 1994, former President Mandela said: “The
time to build is upon us. We have at last achieved our political emancipation.
We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from continuing bondage of
poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination”.

Indeed, this has been our government’s foremost objective to eradicate
poverty completely in our country. We have however set ourselves a target to
halve poverty by 2014. Government of course cannot do this alone. To achieve
this objective, government would have to enter into a partnership with other
role players.

In this instance, it is the Technical Production Services Association (TPSA)
who approached the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) and suggested the
partnership we proudly celebrate today. The DAC in collaboration with TPSA then
hosted the first-ever Indaba for the Technical production and Events industry
which was held in September last year.

The purpose of the Indaba was to create a platform for the industry role
players to deliberate on critical challenges, such as transformation of the
sector and compliance. The Indaba was attended by local and international
experts. On the last day, the conference elected the Task Team which was
introduced to us today.
I was already becoming concerned that we were not seeing any movement since the
Task Team was elected. Now I can see that the co-ordinators of the Task Team
had been busy behind the scenes making sure that all stakeholders shared a
common vision before they could take the process forward.

As I had said last year, when I addressed the Indaba, over time celebrations
have transformed. From an informal set up of an Imbizo at a village setting in
Cofimvaba, to spectacular productions requiring new sets of skills, experience,
creativity, tools, financing, planning and leadership. The celebration event
has evolved into a business and an industry, with professional standards and
very high expectations, academic programmes and educational certifications, and
with new demands and challenges every day.

Many of you will agree with me that the inauguration of a President is one
of the biggest events in this country. There are also many other international
events that we hosted, for example the World Summit on Sustainable Development
in 2002 was a demonstration of our capacity to stage world class events. And
then, of course there was the 46664 Concert, which was hosted in our country
with equipment and technicians from outside South Africa.

Furthermore, there are more than 150 documented arts festivals held annually
and other re-occurring events (including community festivals, parades, fairs,
sporting events, carnivals, car shows, exhibitions, corporate events, funerals,
political rallies, national day rallies), with an estimated combined economic
impact in the billions of rands, not excluding our events and productions that
take place across the world especially in major cities in big powerful
countries. For example, the 2006 FIFA World Cup closing ceremony that we put up
in Germany.

These festivals and events are some of the most successful vehicles that
contribute to economic growth of the tourism industry of South Africa and we
can have enormous economic spin-offs for people who live in the vicinity where
these events take place. The Technical and Events Industry has for many years
operated in obscurity. It is not until recently that my attention was drawn to
the fact that this industry is a gold mine. That’s when I became interested to
know more about this industry.

I do believe that this industry can absorb a lot more people into
sustainable employment and has the potential of opening up new business
opportunities.

This brings me to the point about Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative
for South Africa (AsgiSA). AsgiSA acknowledges that there is improved economic
growth which should lead to job creation, but the question is: Is this economic
growth shared adequately and equitably, equally amongst citizens of our country
in order to rapidly improve job creation? AsgiSA’s aim, therefore, is to
unblock any blockages that retard equal and balanced distribution of wealth and
access to job and employment opportunities especially for the poor and the
marginalised.

I am convinced that the technical and events industry can play a critical
role in achieving the goal of AsgiSA. The Joint Initiative for Priority Skills
Acquisition (JIPSA) is also another intervention strategy of government which
is aggressively looking at addressing the issue of skills development and
training particularly within scarce skills and I am happy that the Task Team
will be looking into these matters.

We as government and the industry need to accelerate the transformation
process through capacity building and skills development. The industry has the
responsibility of taking capacity building seriously by imparting knowledge and
transferring skills to advance the previously disadvantaged workers to new
levels of working with modern technological equipment, not only as operators
but also as creative thinkers in technology design and planning.

Government is indeed the leading client and investor in this industry, 16
billion rand was generated between 2003 and 2004 in this industry and 65
percent of this revenue comes from Government. Government contributed R10,4
billion in two years to this industry. Now as partners with the industry, we
know that the industry is willing and shares the vision of Government to
address the issue of transformation and Broad Based Black Economic
Empowerment.

This year our country celebrates the 50th anniversary of the women’s march
to the Union building protesting against unjust laws and restrictions. There
are very few technical companies owned and run by women. We should be seriously
discussing how we can include and empower women in this male-dominated
sector.

I also think that the sector should work towards developing a transformation
and value charter in line with government’s broad vision of our development
path of a vibrant and inclusive economy which is targeting an average growth
rate of at least 6 percent by 2014. We need to make strong and effective
interventions in the second economy. We cannot do that without effective
partnerships between government and the private sector.

All eyes are now on South Africa

South Africa will be hosting the most prestigious and massive event in the
world, 2010 FIFA World Cup. The events and technical services industry will
have a major responsibility and a crucial role to ensure that every event in
this country becomes a safe environment for hosts and people attending such
events. The events and technical services industry is compelled to be organized
with a strict code of conduct and safety measures to eliminate human errors and
sloppy productions. Is the industry ready for 2010?

The Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Bill which is before Parliament
is specifically looking at giving crucial guidelines in hosting big sports and
recreational events. On 20 April 2006 the Health and Safety at Live Events
General Requirement was launched. The production of the Health and Safety guide
is an initiative of the partnership between TPSA and the South African Bureau
of Standards. I would like to commend TPSA for its sterling contribution
towards ensuring that events are held with high health and safety
consideration. I hope that copies of the draft safety guide will be distributed
throughout the sector so that everyone is informed and is able to make a
contribution to the draft as it is being fine-tuned.

I am told that more than 45 000 jobs were directly created by the FIFA World
Cup in Germany. I am certain that between now and 2010 in South Africa we are
going to double that number. We must ensure that these jobs are sustainable
beyond 2010.

Ladies and gentlemen: I now officially launch the Events and Technical
Services Task Team, as requested. The Department of Arts and Culture commits
itself to supporting this Task Team. The Department will make some resources
available to the Task Team to assist them in carrying out their duties. The
task ahead is enormous and very challenging but as Joseph said earlier, it is
not insurmountable. I would like to think that the people with expertise in
this field would be welcomed to advise and may perhaps be co-opted to the Task
Team. I am sure that meaningful contributions and advices will highly be
appreciated by the Task Team.

The Task Team presented to us this morning needs our utmost support as they
are entrusted with this huge task of overseeing the execution of high-level
projects and to ensure that the conference resolutions are carried out.

From our side, as the Ministry and the Department of Arts and Culture we
have already briefed the Provincial Governments, MECs and officials on these
developments.

In conclusion, I wish to take this opportunity to thank government
officials, honoured guests, stakeholders, and all role players in the sector
and related sectors for making time to be with us this morning. I know that
your schedules are tight but you made time to be here. We appreciate your
contributions and continued support.

We are indeed in the Age of Hope.
I thank you

Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
13 July 2006
Source: Department of Arts Culture (http://www.dac.gov.za)