Arts and Culture: Minister's Budget Speech

ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE,
MS LULU XINGWANA MP.
AT THE BUDGET VOTE
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE,
CAPE TOWN, 19 JUNE 2009

Honourable Speaker
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen:

We deliver our Budget Vote today 33 years after the youth of our country stood up for their rights and helped pave the way to our new democracy. Many of them paid the ultimate price and gave their lives for our freedom.

In his Youth Day address, President Jacob Zuma noted the importance of promoting youth participation in democratic processes, community and civic decision-making and development.

The President also directed that our youth should “participate in programmes to promote our culture and heritage, promotion of the Constitution and the national symbols and various other mechanisms that will cement pride in being a South African.|”

As part of a common national effort, the Department of Arts and Culture will do its part to create access to a rich and productive cultural life for our youth and all our people.

This is why we embrace the idea that there shall be Arts for All and that in promoting arts, culture and heritage, we are deepening our democracy and helping to develop a People’s Culture.

Fifteen years into our democracy our task remains to ensure the full equality of  our people, to ensure equality between men and women, to bridge the divide between rural and urban, between rich and poor.

A fundamental condition for the full realisation of the freedom of all our people is the national effort to bring about transformation, to ensure that opportunities exist for those who have been marginalised to thrive.


ARTS FOR ALL

We are building a culture rooted in the realities of our people and to instill a deeper consciousness of what it means to be proudly South African.

Libraries for All

As part of our efforts to bring the arts to all our people, we shall continue to ensure that community libraries are built in all our communities.

The Department of Arts and Culture coordinates the implementation of the community libraries recapitalisation programme in partnership with provinces.

A new state-of-the art National Library of South Africa building has been completed and opened (it covers 33 000m² and seats 1300 users - 10 times more than the old building).

Together with the National Library we shall also support the formation of book clubs at all community libraries to encourage a culture of reading.

The development of the Library Transformation Charter initiated by the National Council for Library and Information Services and the Department will be finalised in 2009.

The Department will introduce a national community libraries Bill to set the framework for norms and standards in the provision and regulation of community libraries and information services.

The Film Industry

The Department encourages the development of local content and supports the National Film and Video Foundation. Funds have been allocated to the foundation especially for training, skills development, growing the audience base in townships and strengthening South Africa’s international presence. The Foundation is also funding animation features, which will produce interesting and innovative work.

Together with the Foundation we are looking at the best ways of setting up co-operatives in rural areas that focus on bringing cinemas to our people and developing skills in areas related to film production.

The Department has also established a partnership with Canada on co-operation in the film industry.

ARTS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Investing in Culture

Through its ‘Investing in Culture’ programme, the Department aims to provide empowerment opportunities for unemployed people through skills development, training, and job creation.

To date this programme has funded 394 projects which have produced 10 938 job opportunities since 2005, with women, youth and differentially abled people constituting 43%, 37% and 4% of the total number and with 70% of the projects in rural areas.

(I would like to mention that some of the beneficiaries of these projects are with us today - among them are the Community Ceramics and Mosaics project from the Western Cape, the Disabead Project in the Northern Cape that includes people with disabilities, the Nkapeseng beadwork project in the Free State, the Nyoni Crafters in northern KwaZulu Natal and the Tingwazi Art & Craft Project in Limpopo.)

In the second phase of this Extended Public Works Programme the aim is to produce 4000 job opportunities. But in addition to this, the focus will be to identify projects that can become viable co-operatives and SMMEs.

We are partnering with the Department of Trade and Industry in registering co-operatives, in terms of an export readiness programme and participating in national and international exhibitions including the Mzantsi stores.

We are also identifying niche markets that could become high impact job creation areas of growth in the near future by supporting translating and editing job opportunities for the 2010 FIFA World Cup as well as in the areas of digitization of local content and the development of tour guides in South African heritage sites.
Women in the Arts

As we focus on sustaining arts and culture development, part of our focus is also to promote meaningful participation of women in the sector.

With this in mind, we shall set up a Gender Focal Unit in the Department in order to mainstream gender and women’s empowerment programmes in the Department as well as in all our Institutions.

In August this year we shall declare the graves of our great women leaders and veterans and freedom fighters - Lilian Ngoyi and Helen Joseph – a national monument.

Earlier this year, the department under the leadership of Deputy Minister Ntombazana Botha participated in commemorations in France in tribute to the life and work of the late Dulcie September who played an important role in our liberation struggle. In March next year we shall hold the first Dulcie September memorial lecture at the University of the Western Cape dedicated to her role in promoting human rights.

We shall continue to look at more concrete ways of recognizing the important contribution of women in our communities and in the liberation struggle, through awards (Mosadi Wa Konokono) women’s museums and women’s monuments.

2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Projects

The Department of Arts and Culture is also supporting FIFA 2010 Legacy Projects through initiating and funding cultural histories of the Host Cities as well as cities in the SADC region.

We are also looking into rural communities benefiting from FIFA 2010 through the establishment of cinemas in rural areas as a legacy of the public viewing areas established during the 2010 event.

Literature for All

Through the National Library of South Africa, we have reprinted 24 titles of classics in African languages that have been distributed to libraries throughout the country and we are now embarking on the second phase of this project.

We are also helping to establish the South African Language Practitioners’ Council by the end of this year.

We are awarding language bursaries to 90 students in this year to help build capacity in the language profession.

Name Changes

In our work to ensure that the names we give to places reflect our national identity, the South African Geographical Names Council is currently conducting national public hearings on the important policy for changing names. The outcomes will determine the pace and focus of changes.

SOCIAL COHESION

In his State of the Nation address, President Zuma called on each and every one of us to help build a more cohesive society.

Building National Dialogue through Social Cohesion Conference

In the second half of the year we shall hold the first National Conference on Social Cohesion in KwaZulu Natal. The theme of the conference is “Building a Caring Society.”

Participation is invited from civil society, government, academics and communities mobilisation. The Conference will contribute in developing a national strategic framework leading to a concrete National Plan of Action.

Heritage promotion

My predecessor announced in this house, South Africa’s intentions to ratify the 2003 UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage, as well as developing a national policy on living heritage.

I am pleased to report that we have concluded drafting the national policy and will soon embark on consulting South Africans on this important instrument. We encourage all South Africans to participate by providing us with input.

Heritage contributes significantly to economic development and job creation. The Department will therefore be working with other departments on a study on heritage and economic development. This will help us in the sector to develop programmes and projects that will increase investments and economic activity in the heritage sector.

Robben Island Museum

I have accepted the resignations of both the Robben Island council and the interim CEO. The call for nominations for a new council as well as an advertisement calling for applications for a full time CEO have appeared in the national newspapers this past weekend.

In the meantime I have appointed an interim CEO, Professor Henry Bredekamp supported by the Department. The interim CEO has already met with a variety of stakeholders and is working with a small team to ensure the smooth running of the Museum.

I am optimistic that we have learned from the past and that measures that we are putting together will address the current challenges.

Freedom Park

On the 1^st April 2009 Freedom Park became a declared cultural institution and a council was appointed in terms of the Cultural Institutions Act. We are working together with Freedom Park, DPW to complete the contribution of this important icon of our country.

Castle of Good Hope

The Department is undergoing renewed discussion with the Department of Defence about the transfer of the Castle of Good Hope to us. The Department has done a due diligence study with regard to the future use of the Castle and has a framework in place for the future management of this important cultural and historical institution.

Heritage Month

I would like to single out the work of the National Heritage Council, which is doing important work especially in the area of heritage conservation and the development of the Heritage Transformation Charter.
The National Heritage Council is also initiating activities to promote the value of Ubuntu on Mandela Day on 18 July 2009.

This year’s Heritage Day commemoration focuses on the contribution of the craft sector to our national culture and the main celebration will happen in Limpopo. We shall work closely with the National Heritage Council and other stakeholders on this year’s commemorations to ensure that we meet our goal of ensuring that our heritage, arts and crafts belong to all.

Through the National Arts Council, we will host the prestigious International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies World Summit on Arts and Culture in September this year in Johannesburg. The theme of the Summit is Meeting of Cultures: Making Meaning Through the Arts. This Conference will also focus on the role of the arts in intercultural dialogue.

Through our participation we shall also highlight our ongoing support for the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

LEGACY PROJECTS

Sarah Bartmann Centre of Remembrance

In the past year, we launched the Sarah Bartmann Centre of Remembrance Architectural Competition in Hankey, in the Eastern Cape. The second stage will take place in August 2009 with the winning design expected by the first week of September 2009.

Matola Raid Project

In January every year together with our Mozambican counterparts we commemorate the Matola raid.  You will recall that 16 South Africans and a Portuguese citizen were murdered in 30 January 1981 by the South African Defence Force.

The Department of Arts and Culture is in the process of establishing a monument to honour the victims of this callous act.

The Matola Municipality graciously donated land for the construction of the monument, which is located close to where the raid took place and the Department of Public works has drafted the terms of reference for the architectural design process. 

The Department of Arts and Culture will continue using symbolic events such as the Matola Raid and Cuito Canavale to remind the people of Southern Africa about our common heritage and our shared destiny.

O.R. Tambo

We are working with the Mbizana Local Municipality in the O.R. Tambo District to commemorate the life of O.R. Tambo. We shall develop a statue of O.R. Tambo to be installed in the municipality so that we can share his achievements in bringing about our liberation, with the younger generation.

Afrikaans Project

In the last budget vote speech, my predecessor announced a collaborative project with the Dutch on Afrikaans.  An international seminar and festival will take place during Heritage month this year, here in the Western Cape.

The overall theme for the conference is Spreek, Thetha, Talk and we are approaching well known Dutch and Afrikaans speaking academics and cultural workers to participate in this event.

Access to Heritage institutions

The Natal Museum has created a Learners Resource Centre, which offers
learners from the rural areas the use of ICTs as a learning support.  Through the Learners Resource Centre, the museum has had more than 10 000 learners visiting. We shall extend this activity to other national heritage institutions as part of bridging the digital divide in the heritage sector.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND JOB CREATION

We have seen the great success of the first NEPAD Cultural Project in January this year, with the launching of the new Library Building for the Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu, Mali.
Our government must also do all it can to draw lessons from relevant international experiences. In Cuba, as early as 1959, several new cultural institutions were founded that became important to the development of arts and culture across Latin America. These include Casa de las Americas, the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Arts and Industry (I.C.A.I.C), the National Theatre, the National Ballet, the National Symphonic Orchestra and the National Folkloric Group, to mention but a few.

The national literacy campaign also raised Cuban capacity to fully engage in arts and culture. These developments enhanced the life of the Cuban people, but what has characterized cultural development in Cuba mostly, is the massive participation and access to art and culture that is available to the Cuban people. I believe that through our “Art for All” campaign, we can achieve the same goals, working together with our artists and cultural workers.

In the area of international co-operation on cultural development, we are also promoting an African Agenda.  Over 100 South African artists will take part in the Pan African Arts Festival in Algiers in July 2009 and more than 200 will participate in the World Festival of Black Arts in Senegal in December 2009. South Africa-Nigeria 10^th Anniversary Celebrations in October this year will showcase fashion Designers and our film industry.

Conclusion

Through all these initiatives and our work in arts, culture and heritage we aim to create a country where opportunities exist for all our people to expand their imagination and to use their creativity to create a better life for all.

I would like to thank the Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture - especially the Honourable Chair, Rev Tshenuwani Farisani - for their robust contribution to the work of the Department.

My immense gratitude also goes to Former Minister of Arts and Culture, Pallo Jordan, as well as his Deputy Ntombazana Botha, for laying the foundations of a new ministry and department.

I would also like to thank my Deputy Minister, Mr Paul Mashatile, for his support. We now continue to build from where our predecessors have left off.

Finally I thank the Director General, Mr Themba Wakashe, and his team in the Department for the smooth day-to-day running of our operations.

I thank you.

ADDRESS BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE, MR PAUL MASHATILE, MP.
BUDGET VOTE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE,
CAPE TOWN, 19 JUNE 2009

Honourable Speaker
Honourable Members
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Social cohesion and nation-building
In his State of the Nation address, President Zuma called on each and every one of us to help build a more cohesive society. The arts, culture and heritage sector plays a significant contribution to social regeneration, unity and reconciliation. As we transform our country, we need to ensure that we inculcate the spirit of solidarity and a caring society. The Department of Arts and Culture is tasked to lead and coordinate efforts to promote national identity and social cohesion.

We have identified the popularisation of national symbols, national days and the Standardisation of Geographical Names in SA as pillars of our strategy to foster national identity.

Our Bureau of Heraldry is also involved through its campaigns on the popularisation of national symbols and the Flag in Every School Project to promote a shared value system and engender a greater sense of nationhood. In this regard we will produce publications which include pictorial posters, information charts, booklets and brochures. All of these will be distributed in all provinces.

We also intend to do the following as we intensify our campaign:
Conduct 28 workshops on national symbols in collaboration with the Department of Education.
Install flags in all schools across the country
Declare April as the Flag Month and intensify our activities with effect from next year
Our Department continues to promote oral history as part of our efforts to ensure that our heritage landscape is indeed reflective of our national memory and contributes to nation building and identity. We will promote oral history especially among marginalised communities whose heritage and history has been ignored for many centuries. We will later this year host the annual oral history conference in Cape Town to ensure that we preserve the rich heritage of our nation for posterity.

Access to the arts
Community arts centres
Honourable Members, the ANC-led government is committed to the principle of universal access to the arts as stated in our Constitution. We have created community art centres to improve participation in the arts. This year, we will establish cultural Centres of Excellence, one in each province, which will then serve as flagships for the rest of the province.

The Centres will ensure the implementation of quality art programmes. We will support the promotion of people’s arts in Community Art Centres, through encouraging local theatre groups, music groups, local cultural forms of expression and other creative work. Training in the management of art centres will be provided to ensure effective programming within the centres.



Marginalised groups
The Department is mindful of the fact that we will not achieve our objective of access to the arts if we turn a blind eye to the plight of marginalised members of our society.  One of our associated institutions, the South African Library for the Blind (SALB), has partnered with Braille SA to host a National Braille essay writing competition. All entries will be published in a Braille book to raise awareness about Braille and to stimulate an interest in writing South African stories in Braille. We believe this is an important step in our collective efforts to ensure that the doors of learning and culture are open for all.
We will continue to support the Library for the Blind in its planning of the launch of tactile picture books for pre-school blind children later this year. This initiative will help develop skills and create jobs for unemployed women.

We will, in this financial year, introduce a mobile unit used to identify talent among people with disabilities and empower disabled artists and community productions. This is a partnership between our Department and the South African Disabled Musicians Association (SADMA)

Choral music
Chairperson, throughout the centuries of struggle against colonialism and apartheid, choral music played an important role in the lives of our people. To date, choral music continues to be one of our main forms of cultural expression. Every community has some form of a choir and we regard this art form as very participatory in nature because it is practiced by both the youngest and oldest members of society. It can thus be used to promote social values and contribute to the promotion of Ubuntu in South Africa.

Our Department intends to develop the choral music sector through a focused policy to support and govern its growth. This policy will be underpinned by a strategy and an implementation plan to ensure delivery.

We will conduct nation-wide consultations with the sector to ensure that the policy framework represents the aspirations of our people, the practitioners of choral music. This process will culminate with a national conference to finalise and adopt the Policy Framework.

I am happy to announce that we will establish National Youth and Adult Choirs that are truly representative of our people and will thus enjoy government support. Full details of the implementation plan will be released in due course.

Arts education and skills development
The Department has introduced an internship programme to ensure that we increase capacity in the administration and management of our sector. We recognize that the management of our sector requires special skills and we therefore use the internship programme to attract young people to take tertiary studies related to our work.
The Department created 110 job opportunities for unemployed arts practitioners in the five provinces of Gauteng, Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal through the Artists in Schools (AiS) programme. A further 33 jobs were created through the support of the Jazz for Juniors project (chronicling the history of the struggle for liberation of the South Africa through jazz music.

Promoting Multilingualism
Part of our Department of Arts and Culture’s mandate is to develop and promote our official languages.

Through language planning and carefully designed language programmes, we seek to influence the outcome of present-day social processes in practical ways. For example, as part of our strategy to strengthen and promote social cohesion through multilingualism, we have embarked on the development of human language technology (HLT) applications that will ensure redress for the previously marginalised indigenous languages.  Projects such as this will connect South Africans, equipped with nothing but a normal telephone, to government information and services regardless of their level of literacy and location.

Our Constitution provides for the principle of linguistic self-determinism -albeit within limits. This choice is not only viable but also desirable for language planning decision making because it promotes social equity-a crucial element for nation building and social cohesion.
Creative Industries
Creative Industries make significant contribution to job creation and economic development. South Africa, notwithstanding its rich history of beading, does not produce beads but imports them from countries like India, Taiwan and the Czech Republic. The Department is currently working with our Embassy in the Czech Republic and factories in that country towards identifying possible partnerships for accessing both the technology and skills to enhance South Africa’s capacity.

Crafts
The Department has identified the craft industry as a strategic sector that will make key interventions in the economic upliftment of our people. The crafts industry has the potential to create meaningful jobs and the Department has begun to consolidate the marketing and distribution of South African products to international markets such as Art Mundi in Brazil.

This year the Department established the annual National Craft Awards where no fewer than 60 crafters across the 9 provinces were awarded prizes and recognition for their contribution for craft development.

Music
The music industry is a key growth sector for the development of small to medium enterprises. The Department has bought the Downtown Studios from Avusa media.  The vision is to develop the studios into a music heritage centre for local content.  The hub will be central towards supporting independent music creators and producers.

We will continue to host the annual Moshito Conference and Exhibition which has become the key African continent music exhibition and marketing point.

South Africa will continue to participate at the Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale (MIDEM)-the most prestigious music trade-show in the world. MIDEM is held annually in France and attracts in excess of 10 000 music business practitioners who showcase their products.  The aim of our participation is to market and promote South African music abroad and learn from our peers so that we can be globally competitive.

South Africa has been given the status of “Country of Honour” at MIDEM in 2010. This means that we will be given the opportunity for a full marketing and promotion of South African music through live events, publicity, exclusive branding and thus providing an undivided attention from top executives in music business across the world.

On 3 July, the Minister and I will meet representatives from the music sector to discuss how we can work together to improve the viability of the industry.

Technical Services and Events
Our Department has identified the Technical Services and Events industry as an important element of economic empowerment and job creation. The 2010 FIFA World Cup is an event which will create huge job opportunities for technicians and creative producers. The Department has just completed a major investigation and consultation with the sector to reposition and transform this key industry especially in terms of creating job opportunities and BBBEE for youth and women.

Government remains one of the key drivers for this industry in terms of job opportunities for government related events and exhibitions. We need to develop the skills in technical services (sound engineering, stage management etc) especially for our youth to ensure that they can access the opportunities in this industry.

Strengthening our institutions

Robben Island Museum
It is important to acknowledge that Robben Island continues to face challenges.  A few days after assumption of office, the Minister and I accepted the resignations of both the Robben Island council as well as the interim CEO.

Let me take this opportunity to inform this house that the problems that Robben Island faces are not insurmountable.  The challenge is to balance the environmental and heritage imperatives that arise out of its listing as a world heritage site.  I am optimistic that we have learned from the past and that measures that we are putting together will address the current challenges.

We have already advertised a call for public nominations for a new council for the Robben Island Museum in the national newspapers.

In the meantime the Minister has appointed an interim committee and an interim CEO supported by the Department so that the institution is not without leadership.

Robben Island is one of our flagship institutions.  It occupies an important place in the memory of this country.  The Department is working tirelessly to ensure that the invaluable heritage that it symbolises is well preserved and promoted. 

International Relations
Forty arts practitioners will also participate in the Pan African Arts Festival in the Republic of Congo in August 2009. The Festival also serves as a music market for new recording deals and sales of music instruments and production equipments

The People’s Republic of China has extended an invitation to the Government Republic of South Africa to participate in the Shanghai Expo from May to October 2010. The Shanghai Expo 2010 will be an opportunity for us to showcase our arts and culture to the world and serve to consolidate South-South cooperation

2010 FIFA World Cup
Our Department will work with the Local Organising Committee of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to ensure that we present an African World Cup as promised in our bid.

We believe that the tournament presents our country with a unique opportunity to consolidate efforts towards the achievement of social cohesion, economic growth and a general positive mood in our country. All of these are essential building blocks for national identity and pride.

The opening and closing ceremonies as well as other cultural manifestations will reflect rich African cultural content and open opportunities of investment in arts and culture.

This year, as part of the celebrations of the birthday of Nelson Mandela, South Africa together with other nations of the world will celebrate the life, values and ideas of Isithwalandwe, Madiba! July 18 has been declared Mandela Day. President Jacob Zuma has committed the government to support this initiative. We can upon all of our people to dedicate 67 minutes of their time on July 18 for the goodwill of others and service to humanity. The Department of Arts and Culture will coordinate government’s participation in the activities planned for Mandela Day.

Chairperson, we believe that the vote will go a long way in ensuring that we ensure access to the arts, create a caring nation and inculcate the spirit of unity among our people.
Thank you