Chairperson
Honourable members
MECs here present
Ladies and gentlemen
Introduction
I stand before this House to present the budget vote for the Department of Arts and Culture for the financial year 2010/11, which the ANC has declared as, “The year of working together to speed up effective service delivery to the people.”
We present our budget vote, a day after we have marked the 47th anniversary of Africa Day, which this year we will celebrate under the theme: “Promoting and Maintaining Peace in Africa through Sports”.
As we celebrate Africa Day we once more commit ourselves to the goal of promoting unity and progress across our continent. We must also remember our African brothers and sister in the Diaspora, especially the people of Haiti, following the earthquake that destroyed many of their lives and livelihoods. As part of our work in supporting the people of Haiti as they rebuild their country, last month we launched the Artists for Haiti initiative.
This year’s theme for Africa Day takes even more significance as our country is preparing to welcome the peoples of the world for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
On that historic moment, when the first whistle is blown signalling the start of the games, we will proudly proclaim that; “Africa’s time has come”, Afrika Ke Nako.
Economic growth and skills development
The Department of Arts and Culture continues to make significant advances in pursuit of its vision to develop and preserve the South African culture, to ensure social cohesion and nation building. Part of our work involves highlighting the important role that the arts, culture and heritage sector can play in the growth and development of our economy.
This is particularly significant in light of the need for us to continue strengthening our offensive on poverty and unemployment. In countries such as the United Kingdom and India, the arts, culture and heritage sector represent some of the fastest growing economic sectors, contributing to job creation and poverty alleviation.
In our country too, there is evidence that this sector is a significant contributor our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Most importantly, this sector provides sustainable livelihoods to women, the youth and rural communities. This reality was reaffirmed at the Presidential Imbizo last year, where President Zuma, various Ministers and MECs of Arts and Culture met with creative industry practitioners. This Imbizo marked renewed efforts by our government to reposition the creative industries.
This will be done with a view to acknowledge and enhance the sector’s contribution to the broader objectives of government; to grow the economy and create jobs.
It is for this reason that the Department of Arts and Culture is currently seized with the important task of mapping cultural industries and researching their economic impact. It is critical for example to know to what extent do events such as the Mangaung Cultural Festival, the Taung Cultural Calabash, the Cape Town Carnival and the National Arts Festival, contribute to the economies of the host provinces and cities.
Honourable members, it is also important that we pay attention to the urgent need to build an appropriate skills base required to sustain and to further develop this sector. In this regard, efforts are underway to establish a National Skills Academy for the Arts.
We are currently consulting with all relevant stakeholders, including our international partners, to ensure the success of this initiative. The National Skills Academy will become a “Centre of Excellence” whose purpose is to fine-tune the abundant talent that many of our artists have, with a view to ensuring that they become the best in the world.
Arts training initiatives and programmes conducted by different provinces will serve as feeders to the National Skills Academy. It is for this reason that we will continue to work closely with provinces to ensure the success of this initiative.
Celebrating and commemorating national days
The Department of Arts and Culture together with the Presidency will continue to lead the celebrations and commemorations of National Days.
In line with the directive from the President, we have began a process of ensuring that all political parties represented in Parliament take part in these events.
We take this opportunity to thank the leaders of political parties for working together with us to ensure maximum and diverse participation in the celebrations and commemorations of national days. From now on, National Days will no longer be seen as an exclusive preserve of certain sections of our society. We are building a country united in its diversity!
Honourable members, in order to sustain the momentum we have built in this regard, provinces and municipalities have to play a major role in mobilising communities to attend these events. Provinces and municipalities must therefore be part of the planning and the development of programmes for these events, to ensure that they are relevant and can appeal to the targeted communities.
Youth participation in the arts
Honourable members, during the Month of June we will be commemorating the 34th Anniversary of the June 16th youth uprising. The Youth Day commemorations for this year will be in Kwa-Nyamazane in Mpumalanga. Of significance is that we will be marking this important event with the rest of the world who would have come to our country for the World Cup.
It is therefore important that we continue to mobilise young people to participate in the cultural activities for the 2010 World Cup and beyond.
In pursuit of this objective, the Department of Arts and Culture continues to encourage mass participation especially by young people in arts and culture.
This we do through programmes such as the Arts Education Programme which we undertake in partnership with the Department of Basic Education.
Through this programme, we seek to expand access to arts education and also improve the quality of arts and culture education especially in public schools.
In addition, through the South African Schools Chorale Eisteddfod we continue to encourage mass participation by young people, especially learners in chorale music. This event which also contributes to social cohesion and fosters nation building, last year drew participation from about 5 000 learners from all provinces. We have also partnered with the Field Band Foundation to strengthen efforts to build a strong and sustainable youth band movement across the country.
Another mass participation project is My 2010 Schools Adventure Competition. Through this programme we seek to mobilise our young people behind the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Furthermore, this programme seeks to encourage our young people to know and take pride in their national symbols.
Linked to this initiative is the Fly the Flag In Every School campaign, through which we seek to further entrench an appreciation of our national symbols, in particular the national flag, among our learners. This camping is conducted in partnership with the provincial departments of education as well as arts and culture.
Going forward, we will pay attention to ensuring that the Arts in School programme are implemented in all provinces. As part of our community arts project and developing performances is the rural areas, we will this year be participating in the establishment of a community arts centre in Muyexe in Limpopo. We will also be hosting a traditional music and dance festival also in Muyexe.
Honourable members, we are doing all of these things to ensure mass participation in arts and culture especially by young people throughout the length and breadth of our country. We must not fail in these initiatives because the youth are the future of our country!
Furthermore, through our programme to encourage multilingualism and through the development of language policies and legislation we continue to encourage the use and promotion of all our languages, especially among young people.
Cultural heritage
Working together with the National Heritage Council, we have begun a process of consultation with all provinces on the implementation of the National Liberation Heritage Route. The involvement of provinces in this project can never be over emphasized.
Indeed, we rely on provinces and municipalities to strengthen the process of identifying local heroes and heroines as well as sites that will form part of the National Heritage Route. Provinces and municipalities also have a role to play in ensuring that the stories of these heroes, heroines and sites are told correctly and in full.
Last year, we announced the completion of a draft National Policy on Intangible Cultural Heritage. On implementation, the policy will affirm previously neglected heritage such as folklore, performance and Indigenous Knowledge Systems.
Part of what this policy will do will be to ensure that the oral testimonies, especially of the indigenous people, the ordinary men and women of our country, are recorded as part of our history and passed-on to future generations. We will therefore rely on Provinces to mobilise local communities to bring forward their perspective and experiences.
Moral Regeneration
Part of the reconstruction and development of our country requires that we pay attention to the moral regeneration of our society.
Moral regeneration is central to the objective of promoting positive values and entrenching fully the values of Ubuntu within our society.
The Department of Arts and Culture will continue to work with the Moral Regeneration Movement in promoting the renewal of our society. This year we will participate in activities forming part of the Moral Regeneration Month in July to be held in the North West province. Furthermore, the department will this year undertake research into Moral Regeneration initiatives throughout the country to assess their impact on our society.
Let me conclude by thanking members of the Select and Portfolio Committees for their oversight on the work of the Department of Arts and Culture. I also wish to thank MECs and provincial Departments of Arts and Culture for working well with us as we together build this nation and promote social cohesion.
I also thank the Director-General, the managers and staff of the Department of Arts and Culture for their hard work and for ensuring that we remain focused on the tasks at hand.
I take this opportunity to wish our national team, Bafana Bafana, well during the World Cup. We have no doubt that; they will do their best to make us proud.
Afrika ke Nako!
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
27 May 2010
Source: Sapa
