N Abraham-Ntantiso: Eastern Cape Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture
Prov Budget Vote 2007/08

15 March 2007

Theme: "Year of Consolidation"

Madam Speaker of the Provincial Legislature
Honourable Premier
Honourable members of the Executive Council
Honourable members of the Provincial Legislature
Honourable members of the Portfolio Committee
Our honoured traditional leaders and members of the house of traditional
leaders
Director-General (DG) and other leaders of the public service
Distinguished guests, friends and comrades
People and youth of the Eastern Cape

Madam Speaker, I am indeed very pleased to acknowledge in our midst this
afternoon our federations and public entity. I am pleased to welcome to the
House, members of the gymnastic team that will be representing our province at
the 2007 World Gymastraeda Festival in Austria.

I feel immensely proud of the skiing team that recently represented us in
Korea, they are amongst our midst. I would like to take this opportunity to
wish our cricket boys every success in the world cup. This year we will also be
commemorating the 30th anniversary of the murder of Steve Biko.

Madam Speaker, I am particularly happy to present the 2007/08 policy and
budget speech. In 1997 we were given a clear mandate to create an environment
conducive to the growth, development and betterment of the Eastern Cape people
through sport, recreation, arts and culture, museums and heritage and library
and archives. This year we are indeed happy to celebrate our 10 years of
existence as a Department. We are putting together a 10 year booklet that will
showcase how much impact we have made as a Department in changing the lives of
the people of the province and also reflect how far have we gone in advancing
national and provincial popular mandates. To date according to the macro social
report, Eastern Cape perspective of 2006, 64% of Eastern Cape households live
below poverty line (R800 or less a month). The implication of this finding to
our Department translates to the shifting of the 2007/08 public expenditure
towards the poor. All spheres of government indeed need to unite in systematic
poverty eradication through a holistic, integrated and multi-dimensional
approach to pro-poor programming, first priority in the Provincial Growth
Development Programme (PGDP) strategy framework.

The focus of our next 10 years is embedded in our new vision, "A united,
active and winning province through sport, recreation, arts and culture."
United in a 'people's contract to create work and fight poverty', drawing on
the resources and capacity of all sectors in society in a united front against
crime and united towards realising our provincial vision: "Eastern Cape, a
compelling place to live, work and invest in". This vision will be our guiding
tenet to act always in pursuit of the interests of our people and in responding
to the high expectations of Eastern Cape masses.

Our Department, indeed iyabalasela! Two awards were received by the
Department and our public entity, Eastern Cape Provincial Arts and Culture
Council, respectively for the Premier's Good Governance Awards.

We have themed 2007/08 the 'year of consolidation', drawing on the
experiences of the first 10 years and building upon our accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, Premier, honourable members of the House

I would like to present our strategic policy priorities and the financial
resources available to the Department for 2007/08.

Sport and Recreation: R63,974 million

This programme is composed of management, sport development, recreation
development, school sport and 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The African Heads of States have termed 2007 "the Year of African Football"
and thus we also recognise the need to explode with football programmes in
preparation for the prime football event in 2010. Under sport development we
have been allocated an additional grant of R2 million for club development.
This is going to assist in promoting participation in local communities and at
club level. An amount of R5,3 million is put aside to support our provincial
macro bodies, Eastern Cape Sport Council, Boxing South Africa, netball,
Disabled Sport South Africa, Eastern Cape Academy of Sport and Eastern Cape
Boxing Organisation.

At this point I would like to applaud and encourage the federations on the
good progress with regard to the transformation agenda.

Mass Participation Programme: R28,369 million

The conditional grant for 2007/08 is increased by 60% from R17,060 million
in the previous year. This is to ensure mass participation of sport and
recreation activities in disadvantaged communities through selected codes and
the empowerment of communities to manage these activities in conjunction with
provincial departments and local government. We are proud that this programme
will create about 121 new jobs doubling the number of jobs created in the
previous financial year, 120 new schools will be recruited in total 240 schools
participating in this programme and the number of learners and educators will
total up to 62 964, 6 411 respectively. Through this programme we are close to
realising our vision of a better life for all by increasing participation and
global competitiveness.

Siyadlala Mass Participation (MPP)

The total budget allocation has been increased from R9,11 million to R12,149
million:
* The programme intends to take in more women, youth, people with disabilities
and the elderly.
* Currently we have 136 495 people participating in 2007/08 we estimate that
the number will increase to 900 000.
* In addition emphasis will be put on recruiting more people actively
participating in sport to join the programme.
* The number of hubs in the province is 58.

The Department is engaged in an aggressive marketing campaign focusing on
establishing vibrant partnerships with sport federations and
municipalities.

School Sport MPP

* The total budget has been increased from R7,95 million to R14,22
million.

* The number of schools registered in the programme will be increased from
120 representing 12 clusters to 240 representing 20 clusters.

* Wednesday leagues for participating schools are up and running.

• The number of cluster coordinators, sport assistants and office assistants
will be increased from 140 to 269.

* The number of learners will be increased from 31 680 to 62 964.

* Educators and volunteers involved in the programme stand at 2 160 and this
number will be increased to 6 411.

* Three of the participating schools namely Sandisiwe High School from
Mdantsane, Lungisa High School from KwaDwesi (Port Elizabeth) and Aeroville
High School from Somerset East have been linked to United Kingdom (UK) schools
in a British Council "dreams and teams" arrangement and for 2007/08 financial
year this number will be increased to four participating schools.

* The launch of this programme will be at Alfred Nzo District. Club
development, 's bridge from foundation to elite'.

* We received a conditional grant of R2 million for the financial year
2007/08.

* The overall objective of the programme is to promote sporting activities
targeting disadvantaged communities in order to establish a clear pathway for
athletes to participate and progress from the entry levels to the highest
levels.

* The following sporting codes are targeted by this programme:
1. Football (men and women)
2. Netball (men and women)
3. Rugby (men and women)
4. Cricket (men and women)

* A provincial club development festival will be held where seven districts
will participate.

Academy of Sport

* A budget of R7 million has been allocated for the construction for a
provincial academy.

* The overall objective is to nurture the identified talent through
scientific support and competition support to enable our athletes to reach the
level of excellence.

* In terms of the new arrangements relating to the establishment of the
academies, there will be satellite academies established in the six
districts.

* The human resource development plan targets transfer of skills to sport
administrators, coaches and technical officials in seven prioritised codes.

* More than 15 jobs will be created.

National Indigenous Games: R500 000

* In line with the announcement made at the third national indigenous
games festival in Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape Province will be hosting the
fourth national indigenous games festival in September 2007.

* Activities leading to the festival will be:
a) 10 national working meetings
b) establishment of local organising committees and districts working
committees
c) preparation of the Eastern Cape team which involves intensive training camps
for the provincial and district teams
d) paying attention to logistics requirements of the festival Gymnastraeda

* The budget allocation is R2 million.

* In 2003 the province took 45 gymnasts to Portugal for the World
Gymnastraeda festival and in July 2007 the Eastern Cape team of 90 gymnasts and
10 coaches will be travelling to Austria for the 2007 World Gymnastraeda
Festival.

* A bigger percentage of the team comes from the rural sectors of the
province mainly Alfred Nzo, Cacadu.

Name of district: Amathole
Total participants: 4

Name of district: Alfred Nzo
Total participants: 31

Name of district: Cacadu
Total participants: 12

Name of district: Chris Hani 4
Total participants: 4

Name of district: NM Metro
Total participants: 29

Name of district: Ukhahlamba
Total participants: 4

Name of district: OR Tambo
Total participants: 6

2010 Fifa World Cup R920 000

The 2010 FIFA World Cup office is strategically located within our
Department and it continues to make sure that the various spheres of government
work co-operatively to deliver on the commitments and guarantees made by the
provincial government. The province views 2010 not only as the prime football
event but as a catalyst to achieving the strategic objectives of our Vision
2014, Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP), social cohesion as well as
nation building. The operations of the inter-ministerial and provincial
co-ordinating committees continue to strengthen our preparations. In 2007/08 we
will be guided by the provincial blueprint that has been developed for the
successful hosting of 2010 FIFA World Cup. Supporting local football structures
at regional and local levels is our priority as well as establishing
functioning 2010 district stakeholder fora. Intensified efforts are underway to
garner support from organised business and all critical stakeholders.

Cultural Affairs: R7,385 million

This programme comprises of management, arts and culture, museums and
heritage and language services. It is best positioned to deal with nation
building, restoring our people's dignity, social cohesion and economic
development.

Arts and Culture: R26,599 million

In 2007/08 the Department intends to consolidate its partnership with
Germany, Britain and Scotland in order to benefit and expose our artists to
diverse cultures and the advancement of their artistic disciplines into viable
industries. Three cultural exchange programmes and agreements have been
concluded in areas such as food, clothing, technical and language. Seven
integrated programmes have been developed. Roles and responsibilities were
agreed upon. These programmes are:

* audience development programme
* national arts festival programme
* capacity building programme
* international exchange programme
* investing in culture programme
* mass participation programme
* infrastructure development programme.

Cultural Industries: R4,2 million

With the information gained through the consultative process of the arts and
craft dialogue for all key stakeholders including national partners (Department
of Arts and Culture, Department of Trade and Industry and Department of
Economic Affairs and Tourism), a provincial draft policy will be adopted this
year.

* Three new craft hubs will be established this year in Dimbaza, Despatch
and Queenstown and a satellite hub in Flagstaff.

* The Despatch craft hub will be established in partnership with the Nelson
Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.

* Further development of the Mthatha Craft Hub is planned to showcase and
market the craft from all the craft hubs of the province.

* We are in the process of collaborating, developing linkages and
partnerships with three major art galleries with the intention of giving
assistance and opening opportunities to expose and develop talented artists.
The targeted provincial public art galleries are: De Beers Arts Gallery at Fort
Hare in Alice, Nelson Mandela Art Museum in Port Elizabeth and Ann Bryant Art
Gallery in East London.

* We are transferring R5 million to Eastern Cape Provincial Arts and Culture
Council (ECPACC) and R3,7 million to National Arts Festival.

Training and Capacity Development: R2,4 million

Youth empowerment remains a central feature of our developmental focus in
serving as a bridge between the first and second economies.

Young people between 15 to 34 years constitute 33,2% of the Eastern Cape
population macro social report Eastern Cape perspective, 2006. This scenario
reflects a potential of young dependency in the province. It is for this reason
that we are embarking on conducting provincial workshops in curation, design,
visual art, craft management, dance and drama, music, craft development skills
(woodcarving, ceramics, printmaking, beadwork and attire, painting and drawing)
and choreographic development.

We realise the need for the advancement of artistic disciplines into viable
industries particularly for 2010.

Through ECPACC, an estimate of 93 sponsorships and bursaries will be awarded
according to set criteria.

Over 280 artists and 78 cultural administrators will be trained in various
artistic disciplines such as marimba, dance and drama, music business,
scriptwriting and visual arts and craft.

* Training for 28 scriptwriters in film script development, four per
district
* Seven people will be trained in the area of filmmaking, one per
district
* 250 material awards for visual artists and crafters
* Learnership programme will be initiated.

Provincial, National and International Marketing of Arts and Culture: R5
million

A strong emphasis will be put on marketing arts and craft through reviewing
the existing craft catalogue, developing the arts and craft website and
establishing a permanent arts and craft collection as a showcase for the
province.

I would like to remind the House and the provincial departments that the
Premier proposed a policy to dress in a traditional attire on Wednesdays in
order to support and celebrate our local designs whilst communicating our
unique and diverse culture.

Music: R3,2 million

The Miriam Makeba Performance Centre will be further strengthened by the
appointment of a qualified sound engineer who will commence duties on 1 April
2007. In partnership with the University of Fort Hare the Department will
contribute towards an operational subsidy of R1 million in 2007/08.

It is envisaged that the OR Tambo Choral Festival will increase mass
participation by introducing more choirs to compete, with the budget of R500
000.

Structures for jazz, gospel and indigenous music will run festivals,
starting from the district level to culminate with provincial festivals. R1,7
million is the budget allocated for the three genres.

Theatre and Performing Arts: R1,8 million

Film office establishment: As part of the ongoing development of cultural
industries as a catalyst for job creation in both urban and rural areas the
film industry has been identified as part of the national strategy.

Theatres: The theatres form an integral part of the promotion of the
performing arts, in particular dance and drama. As part of transforming the
theatres and making them accessible to all the people of the Eastern Cape the
Department has budgeted for operational support to both the Port Elizabeth
Opera House and the East London Guild theatres. This year a provincial dance
and drama festival will be hosted in the Port Elizabeth Opera Houses.

Wild Coast Festival: This festival remains an important contributor towards
poverty alleviation, economic and cultural empowerment of the people of the
Wild Coast. It is now emerging as strong indigenous festival and is showing
potential to develop into a national festival.

Language Services: R3,487 million

Our Department is tasked with the promotion of multilingualism, redress past
linguistic imbalances and to develop the previously marginalised languages. The
province is overwhelmingly African (3,4 million or 88%) followed by Coloured
population group (7%), Whites (5%) and Indians (less than 1%). (83%) of the
Eastern Cape population speaks Xhosa as a home language and (9%) Afrikaans and
(4%) English with the remaining (4%) speaking a variety of other languages
(macro social report – Eastern Cape perspective 2006).

Several publications have seen the light of day as several volumes of
journals have been published and continue to be published. We will continue to
publish these with the assistance of our partners.

It is our intention to print and publish five manuscripts of different
genres in as many Eastern Cape languages as is possible.

A booklet that contains terms that have been coined for health and medicine
will be compiled. It will be a reference for language practitioners.

Museums and Heritage: R38,47 million

The Department is faced with a mammoth task of healing the soul of the
nation. Our history and past experiences have taught us that this process needs
to be handled with great care, in order to preserve national unity.

To address this challenge, the Department has since its inception in 1997
been actively involved in accelerating the pace of transformation of the
province's rich heritage landscape through commemorating significant cultural
and historical events that shaped the history of South Africa, standardisation
of names of geographical features as well as restructuring the composition of
museum institutions in terms of governance structures, collections, displays,
exhibitions and education programmes.

As historical milestones that impacted positively on the collective
consciousness of the people of the Eastern Cape, the Department has since
facilitated the construction of 40 memorials that have contributed
significantly in reinterpretation and portrayal of the accurate history of the
province and more importantly, restoration of the dignity of previously
marginalised communities.

The Department in partnership with the Buffalo City Municipality, has
facilitated construction of a Wall of Remembrance at Heroes Park in East London
and R500 000 was allocated towards implementation of the project which was
unveiled on 16 December 2006.

In the age of hope, the Department will focus on the development of legacy
projects that seek to leverage the massive potential of the upcoming 2010 Fifa
World Cup extravaganza, as well as consolidation of the national reconciliation
programme.

The Department in partnership with the National Heritage Council and the
Nelson Mandela Museum has embarked on development of a liberation heritage
route that will showcase the province’s rich and diverse cultural heritage.
This is aimed at re-interpretation and promotion of the country's history and
heritage in a manner that promote nation building and reconciliation and more
importantly to lobby United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisations (UNESCOs) World Heritage committee to proclaim the route a World
Heritage Site.

The Department will facilitate community participation on the proposed
change of names provincial cities and towns that were extensions of the British
Empire and continue to celebrate the legacy of colonialism and focus will be on
Port Elizabeth, East London, King William's Town and Grahamstown to mention a
few.

The Department has also entered into a partnership with the Sunday Times
Newspaper which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2006 and this will
culminate in the development of 10 artworks in the province celebrating
significant achievements of local personalities as well as promoting
significant cultural and historical events such as the 1938 discovery of the
Coelacanth in East London, 1921 Bulhoek Massacre in Queenstown, Happyboy Mgxaji
and the story of East London boxing, Raymond Mhlaba and the Defiance Campaign
in New Brighton and George Pemba at the George Pemba Gallery in New Brighton to
mention a few.

Library and Information Services: R67,909 million

This programme consists of management, libraries and archives.

This year's budget allocation is an indication of a commitment to the
provision of free, equitable and accessible library and information services.
The Department is rolling out a campaign of promoting the culture of
reading.

During the previous financial year the directorate managed to take library
services to the people by:

* opening a library in Mbizana
* transferring of R21,885 million to municipalities
* galvanising efforts to market libraries via the national library week
awareness campaigns
* development of collection policies and procedure manuals
* project initiation of a records management improvement plan in preparation
for electronic document/records management environment.

In the ensuing financial year special attention will be given to:

* The promotion of the use of libraries for the cultivation of a culture of
reading and life long learning in line with the millennium goal, "eradication
of illiteracy by 50% by 2014". Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Human
Resource Development (HRD) profile of the Eastern Cape 2004 confirms low levels
of education attainment in the province. In 2001, only 6% of the population had
a higher education qualification, 14% had senior certificate, 30% had some
secondary education whilst half of the Eastern Cape population had primary
education and below. This skills shortage is inhibiting further employment
growth.

* Increased access to library service through the provision of two new
mobile libraries and 26 new libraries on-wheels to previously disadvantaged
communities valued at R150 000 and R1 million respectively.

* 14 libraries mainly rural based will be provided with Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure at a cost of R750 000.

* R6 million is budgeted for the provision of library books and other
formats to public libraries.

* Roll-out of records management and improvement plan

* Promote provincial social memory and identity through oral recording of
un-chronicled history and oral tradition.

I am happy to announce that the Department has received an additional R22,6
million as a conditional grant whose purpose is to recapitalise library
services. This will see 36 libraries benefiting from:
* Refurbishments, cabling, access adaptation and purchasing of electronic
equipment.

Special Programmes Unit: R563 000

Madam speaker, honourable Premier it is with pride to announce that on
Friday, 9 March 2007 this province achieved yet another milestone when it
launched the progressive women's movement in Eastern Cape.

The launch was graced by the presence of the speaker of the national
assembly, Ms Baleka Mbete. Malibongwe!

Five percent of the people of the province have some form of disability. Of
these 1,6% are young people and 31,5% are over 85 years with 25% being sight
disabilities and 24,7% being physically disabilities, macro social report 2006.
Our Department and programmes need to meet the needs for frail care resources
in communities particularly in rural areas. Women are in the majority in the
Eastern Cape (54%) which is higher than the national average of (52%). This
also translates into the majority of households which are headed by women in
the Eastern Cape (51,8%):

* Macro social report 2006. All our programmes therefore, need to have a
capacity to benefit and empower women. We also acknowledge that youth
empowerment must remain a central feature of our developmental focus. This year
the special programmes unit is planning to host a consultative summit on
disability. The purpose of the summit is to create a platform for a synergy
between the expectations of people with disabilities and the core function of
the Department.

* Also planned by the unit is the development of an inventory of the
accessibility of sport, recreation, arts and culture provincial
infrastructure.
* Furthermore, this office is planning a workshop on the finalisation of a
gender strategy for the Department to serve as an intervention strategy towards
the intensification of commitment with regards to gender issues.

* A Youth Exchange Programme with Lower Saxony, Germany is also planned for
in 2007/08.

* Programmes to address drugs and substance abuse are planned.

* Mainstreaming of HIV and AIDS programmes.

Infrastructure Development

Infrastructure development is the cornerstone of socio-economic development
of any country. The objective of infrastructure development is critical to
promoting both social and economic growth. As the Department we are starting to
creatively explore ways to increase the level of public investment expenditure
and use infrastructure expenditure to more efficiently address the interrelated
objectives of poverty eradication, employment creation and economic growth.

The budget allocation: R33,397 million allocated as follows: (See website
for table)

Budget Outline

Madam speaker, honourable Premier and honourable members, the budget
allocation that we are tabling is as following: (see http://www.ecpg.gov.za/ for table two)

* The table reflects a substantial increase in of budget allocation over the
2007/08 medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) period with 24,7% (2007/08),
18% (2008/09) and 11% (2009/10).
* However when factoring the inflationary adjustments, the real growth rate is
19,6% (2007/08), 13,7% (2008/09) and 6,5% (2009/10).
* This projected increase is attributed to additional allocation on mass
participation programme conditional grant and library service conditional grant
totalling R28,369 million and R22,680 million.

Table 3: Budget Allocation within the MTEF period (see http://www.ecpg.gov.za/ for table three)

Conclusion

Madame Speaker, the progress we have made over the past decade in advancing
our mandate would not have been possible without the political guidance and
untiring support from the Premier and my colleagues in the Cabinet, I also wish
to extend my appreciation to the chairperson of our portfolio committee and
members of the committee for always keeping the Department in check and on its
toes. My special thanks go to BTM Mfenyana, the Head of Department for his
commitment, strategic leadership and administrative support to the Department.
Finally, I would like to recognise the dedication and commitment of every staff
member of the Department.

As we prepare for the next decade, we will strive to further advance the
realisation of restoring the dignity of our people, healing the soul of the
nation, social reconstruction and cohesion.

I would like to invite all of us to intensify as a collective to work
together as we gear for hosting the prestigious event of 2010 Fifa World Cup
phambili Mrs Abraham-Ntantiso.

Issued by: Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Eastern Cape
Provincial Government
15 March 2007
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecpg.gov.za/)