Committee Report on Arts and Culture Budget

Meeting report

The Chairperson said there were matters arising from the Department such as operational plans from the National Museum and State Theatre, which had to be submitted The Department also had to give detail of how outcomes and targets would be achieved. The Committee did not want to find at the end of this financial year that the Department had not achieved what it supposed to. The Department should say how it was going to achieve the targets set. That information was still outstanding.

It was a concern that the Department was not taking responsibility for the entities in terms of 80% of the budget going to the entities. When the Department presented the Committee would be able to check whether the Department was overseeing the entities. The Department should give the Committee the information on how it was monitoring the entities looking at the 80% budget that had been transferred.

In the last meeting there was a request for a report on King Dinizulu’s grave and remains, and that information should be tabled in the next meeting.

Draft Report of the Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture on Budget Vote 37: Department of Arts and Culture
The Committee went through the report page by page.

Dr G Grootboom (DA) referred to page 2 of the report in terms of Policy Priority for 2015/16 where they talked about radical economic transformation, the description of the activity didn't speak to the priority because it just stated ‘alignment of policies and programmes with transformative outcomes’. That said nothing, absolutely nothing.

The Chairperson said that was what was in the Annual Performance Plan (APP) of the Department. It was best to ask the Department when it came before the Committee, because that information was extracted from the book.

Dr Grootboom said that if it was extracted from the book itself the must to look at that. However, if policy and programmes were transformed to outcomes it didn't speak to transformation because there was nothing about transforming and there was nothing about economic transformation.

The Chairperson said these questions should have been asked when the Department was before the Committee. That issue came from their document, but it could be raised as a finding.

Ms V Mogotsi (ANC) said that issue was supposed to have been raised earlier and it will be too late to call the department back, the report should be adopted today.

Mr J Mahlangu (ANC) said that the argument that was raised by Dr Grootboom was fair but the Committee should take the blame collectively because it failed to interrogate the Department on the issue of economic transformation. The Committee should resolve that that the Department attach an addendum to correct the report so that the matter of radical economic transformation was clearly unpacked.

The Chairperson said that the inputs from Members were important and added value to the discussion. The Department should unpack some of the issues and it should be remembered that the said they wanted an action plan that was going to assist them and the information Dr Grootboom was talking about was information the Committee needed to be able to measure what the Department was doing. The Committee Secretary would note that they be provided with detailed information on that matter. 

The report was adopted.

The meeting was adjourned.