Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Budget Speech, responses by EFF & IFP

Chairperson,
Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Honourable N Mafu,
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee,
Honourable Members,
Chairpersons and Chief Executives of Public Entities,
Distinguished Guests,
Members of the Media.
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I extend my warmest greetings to all of you who have tuned in. We live in extra-ordinary times. As humanity we face unprecedented challenges brought about by the outbreak of this pandemic called COVID-19. The impact of this pandemic, can only be matched by that of Spanish Flu of 1918. In its wake, the Spanish flu claimed more than three hundred thousand lives in the Western Cape alone, that was five percent of the entire population of South Africa at the time.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has turned the world upside down, forcing down the throat of humanity a new way of doing things, a new normal.

Under these new circumstances, we should do things differently. Government’s approach is “SAVING LIVES AND SUSTAINING LIVELIHOODS.

With strict observance of health protocols we are opening most platforms that can accommodate not more than fifty (50) people under the current environment.

As the Department we will continue with the programme sustaining livelihoods by going ahead with our flagship events using the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). This means our activities will be virtual.

Athletes.

For non-contact sport, we have resumed training and playing under strict health protocols and procedures.

For contact sport, we have engaged in a staggered process of first resuming with training. The next phase will be that of engaging in competitive activities.

The above outlined find expression in the detailed manner which we have gazetted thus far.

As we focus on the challenges at hand occasioned by the outbreak of COVID-19, we have not taken our eyes off the ball as it relates to the bigger picture of transformation.

We have noted the referral back to Parliament of the two pieces of legislation Copyright Amendment Bill (CAB) and Performers Protection Bill (PPB) by the President. We hope that Parliament is going to prioritize these bills.

We are still committed to ensure that the National Sport and Recreation Bill is attended too by this Parliament in the current financial year.

Nelson Mandela Day.

On the eve of Nelson Mandela Day, we laid to rest the mortal remains of the youngest daughter of the former President Mandela, Zindziswa (Zindzi) Mandela. A person who served our country with dedication. We salute her.

Three days ago, the world celebrated the Nelson Mandela Day. This is the day in which the world community, through the United Nations declared as Mandela Day in paying homage to this outstanding African son who contributed so much in global peace efforts and human understanding.

This day means, speaking out against prejudice and discrimination wherever we see their dark manifestations. It means, standing up against the indignity and deprivation that millions of our fellow human beings still suffer around the world.

The greatest tribute we can pay President Nelson Mandela is to carry on his message of hope and to continue the fierce defence of the value he stood for.

Living legends.

The financial year 2019-2020, we celebrated the lives of two living legends, they are Mama Noria Mabasa and Mama Esther Mahlangu. This is in line with our commitment to honour and celebrate the lives of our living human treasures.

The current financial year of 2020-2021 is dedicated to another two icons of our creative and cultural sector Ouma Katrina Esau and Gogo Madosini. 

Ouma Katrina Esau is one of three Khoisan people alive who can fluently speak the NUU/ language. The NUU/ language is one of the Khoisan languages that is on the verge of disappearing due to the fact that it is not widely spoken in the Khoisan community who have adopted Afrikaans as their first language. She teaches the youth about the culture and traditions of the NUU/ people.

Gogo Madosini, as she is widely known is a music composer and performer who specialises in traditional isiXhosa music. Madosini is an expert uhadi, umrhubhe and isitolotolo player. Gogo Madosini manufactures her own uhadi and umrhubhe instruments from natural materials she harvest from her home villages in the Eastern Cape. She has performed her music all over the world and teaches the youth her wonderful yet rare musical skills.

We further resolved over and above recognising their contribution to the creative sector, as a token of appreciation of their contribution we will give each an amount of fifty-thousand Rands (R50 000). 

Impact of COVID-19.

The government as a whole was forced to take drastic measures to mitigate the circumstances. This means one thing, that is reprioritizing the budget.

Because this was an unprecedented and unplanned global crisis, it meant that a significant amount of sport, arts and culture’s budget was reprioritized to contribute to the COVID-19 Relief Fund. This shift of funds has affected the Annual Performance Plan delivery targets of the department for 2020/21 financial year. This is because of the budget adjustments, as well as because of the measures of prevention of the spread of COVOID-19 pandemic. These measures of restrictions on numbers of people that can gather, the limits on inter-provincial and general travel and the need for social distancing, have led to realistic reduction of planned targets.

In the 2020/21 financial year the Department had an original budget of R5.7 billion and after the implementation of the Special Adjusted budget the Department has an Adjusted Appropriation of R4.7 billion.  A total amount of R1 billion has been reduced for COVID-19 purpose and the budget reductions were implemented as follows:

• Compensation of Employees:  With the filling of vacancies, an amount of R10 million has been deducted out of R408 Million.

• Goods and Services:  The reductions under this line item amount to R86.9 million has been deducted out of R610 929 Million, and it relates mainly on travelling costs and contractors for heritage projects, and the cancellation of major events due to the restrictions as per lockdown regulations.

• Community libraries:  An amount of R312.5 million out of R1.4 Billion was reprioritized from this budget and the scaling back was on the purchase of library materials, the construction of selected new libraries and the upgrading of selected existing libraries.  In the remaining R1.1 Billion a further R10 million has been reallocated for the decontamination of community libraries and purchasing of personal protective equipment for staff to resume library activities.

• Mass participation and sport development grant:  A budget reduction of R224.0 million out of R596 Million was implemented and Provinces will utilize an amount of R58.0 million for cancelled competitions to compensate the sport sector for the loss of earnings due to the restrictions on economic activity.

Transfer Payments: With the Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) Programme and entity transfers has been scaled down by the Department. 

• An allocation of R95.0 million will compensate the arts and culture sector for loss of income due to the restrictions on economic activity.

• Infrastructure support: The implementation of infrastructure projects at various museums and the National Archives, as well as some legacy projects, has been delayed due to the restrictions on economic activity and an amount R152.7 million has been reduced in this current financial year.

• Transfers to Heritage Institutions, MGE and Individual Public Entities: The operational transfer payments of R82.1 Million has also been reprioritized.

• Transfer payments: The reduction of Cultural and Creative Industries Development transfers to households, non-profit institutions and private enterprises due to the restrictions on economic activity, a budget cut of R28.1 million has been implemented.

• Recreation Development and Sport Promotion Programme: The various activities were suspended, including lovelife programmes due to delays in infrastructure projects at community arts centres, as well as suspensions on goods and services and other transfer payments. An amount of R72.0 million will compensate the sport sector at national level for the loss of earnings due to the restrictions on economic activity.

COVID19 Pandemic affects on ACPD programme

Covid-19 pandemic has negatively affected the arts and culture sector in that many planned programmes were to benefit the practitioners and their livelihoods. Many of them lost economic opportunities that they would usually enjoy through participating in cultural staging of events, training and leading in promoting community and social cohesion. This was largely exacerbated by the closing of theatres, galleries and performing arts institutions during lockdown. The expenses related to acquisition or inaccessibility virtual technical ways of presenting their work, as alternative media, was also not of assistance to many practitioners due to their lack of finances.  

Heritage Promotion and Preservation.

The programme like the rest of other branches has had substantial budget reductions from its baseline allocations as part of the reprioritization process to redirect and contribute funds to the COVID-19.

Amongst the sub-programmes are the following:

• R2 054 000 has been cut from the R3 000 000 Heritage Policy budget.
• R2 380 000 has been cut from R6 590 000 Bureau of Heraldry budget.
• R2 229 000 has been cut from R3 552 000 Living Heritage budget.
• R2 432 000 has been cut from R5 107 000 South African Geographical Names Council budget.
• R4 209 000 has been cut from R10 172 000 Heritage Promotion budget.

• The Department in cooperation with the Provincial Departments will continue to provide financial support toward the construction of 12 new libraries through the Community Library Conditional Grant instead of the planned 32 and 45 upgrades. The delivery of public library infrastructure provides a solid foundation for socially cohesive communities and life-long learning.

• The allocated budget for the National Archives building project for the current financial year is R65 million. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the budget has been cut by R30 million.

• An amount of R312 million has been reduced from the Community Library Conditional Grant for the 2020/21 financial year. These funds were earmarked for infrastructure projects, procurement of library material, ICT infrastructure and equipment. As a result the remaining grant funding will focus on compensation of employees and contractual obligations.

Circumstances imposed by the outbreak forces us to further tighten our belts in the effort to save lives and create conditions for the sustainability of lively-hood beyond the pandemic. All hands on deck.

I thank you for your attention.

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Deputy Minister Nocawe Mafu: Sport, Arts and Culture Dept Budget Vote 2020/21

23 Jul 2020

Speech by the Hon. Nocawe Mafu, Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts & Culture, on the occasion of the Adjustment Budget Vote, Parliament of RSA, Cape Town

Chairperson
Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, the Honourable Nathi Mthethwa
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee
Honourable Members
Chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers of our Public Entities
Distinguished Guests
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
 
Please allow me too, to also extend my very sincere and heartfelt greetings to all of you who are keenly following these proceedings. As the Minister has already intimated, these are indeed extraordinary times requiring human effort that cannot be anything less than extraordinary. 

Given this new global reality, and as part of our consultative process with the sector, we have had to create a special COVID-19 Relief Fund for arts and culture and as well as for the sport and recreation fraternity.. 

The relief effort appropriation is not being made possible from additional resources but rather from internal savings from within the Department – meaning, that for some key areas of work and delivery, there has had to be cutback, as has been already confirmed by Minister.

Given that the Honorable Minister has already tabled the adjusted budget at length, mine is just simply to lay further emphasis on mainly two areas of work and attendant budget appropriations These two key areas of work are recreation development and sport promotion as well as administration (which is geared at ensuring that there is optimal support in terms of financial, human and infrastructure capacity to ensure effective, efficient and impactful programme implementation). 

As part of our contribution to the Social Cohesion Programme of Action of government, we have continued giving support to our sport academies. High performance athletes have also been adequately supported, with financial assistance also being given to national sports federations who were meeting their transformation targets.

In view of the aforementioned, Honourable Chairperson, may I also just allay any concerns on sport transformation that may arise as a result of the budget adjustments we are tabling here today before this House. Let me unequivocally and without any fear of contradiction categorically state that neither COVID-19 itself or attendant budget ajustments would in any way adversely affect our determination to ensuring that there is transformation in sport. We will with more added energy implement, in consultations with our national sport federations, the  recommendations from the 2019/2020 report on sport transformation by the Eminent Persons Group.

In giving traction to transformation in sport, we recognize that as government, we must also provide the necessary legislative and policy tools, that would ensure that transformation in sport happens. In that regard, we further acknowledge that “inequality of opportunity” in sport, is also regrettably “gendered”. We will therefore move with added pace, in concluding the remaining stakeholder consultations on the draft Women in Sport national policy. It is envisaged that the Department will by no later than March 2021 have this policy unveiled and officially gazetted.

In making a cogent argument for sport as one of the foremost levers to foster unity, cohesion and national reconciliation, Tata Nelson Mandela once said:

Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair.

In line with Madiba’s vision and his heartfelt conviction in the power of sport of sport to unite our people, we have taken the challenge and are putting into full practical effect Madiba’s vision in terms of the role of sport in bridging socio-historical divisions.

Honourable Chairperson, please allow me then to spell out the budget adjustment in terms of this key area of delivery for the Department i.e. recreation development and sport promotion.

For 2020/2021, the programme was allocated R1.4 billion. After the budget adjustment exercise, the final appropriation now stands at R1.09 billion. The difference is part of the Department’s contribution in cushioning the adverse effects of COVID-19 on the masses of our people. In terms of this bigger programme on recreation development and sport promotion, the following breakdown should be useful in giving more clarity to allocations per sub-programmes, as I shall now do in the foregoing section: 

• Winning Nation: R93 937 000 adjusted to R88 437 000
• Active Nation: R723 157 000 adjusted to R466 657 000
• Sport Support: R166 422 000 adjusted to R235 922 000
• Infrastructure Support: R476 804 000 adjusted to R308 971 000.

 
Also due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mass Participation and Sport Development Grant was reduced by R224 million. Since the grant is regulated through the Mass Participation and Sport Development Grant Framework, a reduction of the grant amount and the amended use of allocated resources, means that the conditions of the grant in the framework now have to be reviewed.
 
For their part, provinces have since requested a deviation from National Treasury through the mother Department, to be able to utilise part of the allocation to support provincial relief efforts. A total of R85 million was cut from the ‘transfers of infrastructure grants to entities’, for the purpose of infrastructure development. As a result, the overall impact will be shortfalls of the budget in outer years of project implementation, and the achievement of the initial infrastructure plans.
 
Honourable Chairperson, we can confirm that the initial allocation for the support function was R451 million, which has now been slightly adjusted down to R449 million. Key expense items here include the compensation budget, office accommodation, goods and services, equipment (mainly IT infrastructure) and the annual transfers to implementing agencies of the Department.

While understandably our focus has been outward in terms of the overall COCID-19 response, we have had to also look inward, not just simply to comply with the regulations, as all employers must, but rather because there is a moral and ethical obligation to provide a safe working environment for all our officials. Thus, as part of the goods and services budget, we made the necessary allocations  ensuring that we are able to bolster the Employee Wellbeing programme, including procurement of mimimum Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs); decontamination of the environment as may be necessary; that there is mimimum screening conducted on all persons entering our buildings – officials and guests alike.
 
In conclusion Honourable Chaiperson, please allow me remind Honorable Members, members of the media and members of the public who are tuned in and listening, that this July month is Mandela Month. We are therefore called upon to reflect on and embody his values of service, sacrifice and selflessness.
 
July is also a month for men to pause and reflect on their role in respect of Gender Based Violence and violence against children, especially young girls. I found it opportune to make this impassioned plea to men on this Men’s Month, so that they too begin to progressively internalise and put into practical effect the values Madiba stood for and epitomised.
 
Gender Based Violence should not be seen to be a women’s problem – and therefore for the women alone to solve. Women did not create patriarchy, which in turn, buttresses Gender Based Violence. Patriarchy is a system of unequal power relations between men and women, of which almost all men, consciously or unconsciously, act as benefactors.
 
It therefore stands to reason that if this system, which is largely responsible for the scourge of Gender Based Violence, is to be dismantled, altogether, those that unfairly continue to benefit from it must tackle it, by standing in solidarity with their womenfolk.
 
Honourable Chairperson, I therefore humbly commend this House to pass the budget as tabled!
 
I thank you for your attention!