Gauteng MEC for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation Mr Lebogang Maile convened an Intergovernmental Relations Forum consultative meeting on 27 to 28 January 2011.
The meeting was attended by the Members of the Mayoral Committees responsible for Sport, Arts, Culture, Recreation and Heritage from all the Gauteng municipalities.
The meeting's main objective was that all spheres of government must conduct their programmes in a manner that promotes the spirit of cooperative governance.
The strategic thrust of the meeting was to address the following:
- joint planning between the different spheres of government
- intergovernmental fiscal relations
- social cohesion
The meeting acknowledged the importance of sport, recreation and arts and culture in driving the agenda of building socially cohesive communities. It also agreed that there was a need for the province to come up with practical steps in working towards consolidating its infrastructure for sport, recreation, arts culture and recreation.
The meeting agreed on the following milestones as part of taking the agenda forward:
Sport and recreation
- The meeting noted the process outlined towards the formulation of the Gauteng Action Plan for Sport.
- That the plan(Action Plan) should be tabled at the Regional Sport Izindaba to be held across the province for further deliberations thereof will feed into the process leading to the National Sport Indaba to be convened by Minister Mbalula.
- It was also agreed that the process of resolving problems within the Gauteng Sport Council must be further supplemented by establishing similar structures (sport councils) at regional and local levels.
- The meeting also agreed that there must be synergy in the planning, development, usage and maintenance of infrastructure for sport and recreation. It was also agreed that the planning should further accommodate the access to the facilities by both the community and other sporting bodies.
- The meeting unanimously agreed that there's a need to develop norms and standards for sports infrastructure on the shared usage thereof. This follows a realisation that in certain settlements there are schools with infrastructure whilst there might be none in the community and vice versa.
- The meeting was also of the view that the pending FIFA World Cup Close-out Report by the department will form a basis for further elaboration of a plan to sustain the momentum of the soccer spectacle.
- The meeting supported the idea of establishing the Gauteng Village for Sport Development which will encompass an Academy providing training for coaches and a combination of sport and academic development. In this regard it was agreed that the West Rand District Municipality will lead in taking the process forward towards the realisation of the village.
Arts, Culture and Heritage
Arts, Culture and Heritage play an important part in building social cohesion, identity and nation building.
- The meeting agreed that there is a need to change the approach in how the national commemorative days are celebrated. It emphasised the need to ensure that all aspects of South African history and heritage are reflected in how the celebrations are conducted. Also crucial is the need to engage in an ongoing dialogue about nation building and identity.
- The view of the meeting was that the national commemorative days must sway the nation towards the identification of the common challenges and agree on how these should be tackled.
- There was agreement that there is a need to also focus on the economics of arts and culture. This would be explored by further conducting analysis of what the contribution of the arts and crafts sector is to the economy.
- One of the major events to be undertaken will be the bid to have Gauteng host an International Film Festival-Joziwood.
- It was also agreed that the department through MEC Maile will approach the City of Johannesburg to explore the possibility of having the Joburg Arts Alive turned into a province-wide event.
Libraries and information services
- The meeting noted the challenges relating to the provision of library services in communities and to a large extent in schools. The challenges relate to funding, bureaucracy and inadequate structures among others.
- The meeting agreed to review the guidelines that govern how the function(library service) is delivered in Gauteng. The emphasis is placed on the need to ensure that campaigns are rolled out to ensure that communities have access to books.
Conclusion
The meeting has emphasised the need to ensure the sustainability and proper functioning of the Intergovernmental structure. This will ensure that the national and provincial spheres play the role of anchoring and helping to enhance the capacity of municipalities to deliver.
The municipalities will be encouraged to identify opportunities and areas where they can deliver effectively within the areas of cultural tourism, film, arts and crafts.
For more information please contact:
Emmanuel Mdawu
Cell: 082 848 1452
E-mail: emmanuel.mdawu@gauteng.gov.za
Source: SAPA
