Support for Artists: Creative Industries Federation & Department briefing

NCOP Education and Technology, Sports, Arts and Culture

13 June 2018
Chairperson: Ms L Zwane (ANC, KZN)
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Meeting Summary

The Select Committee met with the Department on Arts and Culture for a briefing on the support given to the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of SA (CCIFSA). The Department, with the Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture, Ms Maggie Sotyu, briefed the Committee on the background and establishment of CCIFSA, CCIFSA representation and funding allocation.

 The CCIFSA then presented an overview of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI), CCIFSA sectors, strategic objectives of the Federation and government acknowledgment. Also covered in the presentation were the 2018 Usiba Ministerial Awards Partnership Program, key deliverables, sector set-up, situational analysis and the way forward.

Members noted that their main concern was that the industry was not regulated, artists were exploited and at risk of piracy thus the initiative of the CCIFSA was an important one. There was some displeasure with the fact that the CCIFS executive present was all male – this was asked to be changed so that the Committee could fully support the organisation. There were questions on funding of the CCIFSA, Usiba awards, provincial coordinators and celebration of 16 June. The CCIFSA was pointedly asked what it was doing to transform historically white art sectors and ensure they were more inclusive of black youth, protection of women in the creative industry against sexual assault and education of inexperienced and young artists on the business and legal side of the industry.

Members wished to discuss the finances of the CCIFSA but this was not included in the organisation’s presentation – it was advised to send this to the Committee for thorough discussion. Written responses were requested for the above questions of the Committee.

Meeting report

Opening Remarks

The Chairperson tendered apologies for the absence of the Minister, Director-General of the Department of Arts and Culture and a Member who was on sick leave.

The Chairperson said that the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of SA (CCIFSA) represents all artists who broadcast messages, through various capacities, to the nation. Messages of the artists were diverse - some inspired hope whilst others reflected hardships experienced and much more. These artists used many forms for their work including music, imagery and performance. The process of creating art can be very costly. What worries Members was that the industry was not regulated and artists were often exploited and at risk of piracy. In other countries, artists were protected by regulations. Members wanted to know what the goal of CCIFSA was.

The Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture, Ms Maggie Sotyu, had only just become aware that the CCIFSA executive was majority men. She committed to this being corrected.

Department on Arts and Culture Briefing: Support Given to the Cultural & Creative Industries Federation of SA, in terms of both Upcoming and Experienced Artists

Deputy Minister Sotyu said that in honour of the celebration of Africa Month, the DAC progressed in promoting social cohesion throughout the continent. There were communal activities, ceremonies, stakeholder, community engagements and much more to ensure that Africa Month was not only celebrated but also commemorated as an important calendar date. The Ministry aimed to position the Department as a hub of social economic development for all sectors. The Department sought to find new development pathways that encourages activities, creativity and innovation in pursuit of an inclusive, equitable and sustainable arts, culture and heritage sectors in SA. The art, culture and heritage sectors were well known to be fragmented due to racial, urban/rural, gender, generational and class lines.

The DAC supported establishment of the CCIFSA as the national body for the arts, culture and heritage sector. The structure aimed to assist in dealing with major challenges which continue to stifle growth and potential contribution of the sector to the economy. CCIFSA was a result of several consultative processes between government and the artists. The body formally started in 2009 when former President Zuma met with artists to discuss their role and contribution to social cohesion and nation-building. In these meetings it was acknowledged that artists were not formally organised under any structure and this presented difficulty when trying to engage with them. CCIFSA aimed to organise the many sectors under one umbrella body to enable better industry interface with government and address the challenge of fragmentation.

In terms of initial funding allocation, following appointment of an Interim Committee, the Department concluded a three-year Memorandum of Agreement and supported CCIFSA with funding to the value of R15 784 000:

-Year 1: R5 784 000 was allocated in the 2014/15 financial year. This funding was to facilitate establishment of the organisation, including sectoral and provincial consultation, and the inaugural conference

-Year 2: R5 000 000 was allocated in the 2015/16 financial year. This funded the CCIFSA’s action plan for the year. The plan was developed based on recommendations made prior to and during the elective conference in March 2015 where many participants raised the need for further engagement with stakeholders

-Year 3: R5 000 000 was allocated in the 2016/17 financial year for broadening of the organisation’s scope on consultations with the sector

Mr Charles Mabaso, DAC Acting DDG said that achievements to date were establishment of the CCIFSA provincial councils in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free State, and the Eastern Cape. The Northern Cape and North West provinces were ready to be launched whilst KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Gauteng only have provincial co-ordinators and were pending further consultations with stakeholders. The role of these councils was to coordinate stakeholders within provinces.  The federation had engagements with relevant public and private organisations on policy issues that affect the sector.

The DAC and CCIFSA recently developed a partnership support for a program designed to recognise creative practitioners through awards, the Usiba Ministerial Awards, to complement existing countrywide arts and culture accolades given by various institutions. The Usiba Ministerial awards intended to promote and reward extraordinary accomplishments and contributions of art practitioners in a way separate from existing sectoral awards. Usiba focuses on all art disciplines, recognising practitioners for the role they have played in re-energising the souls and spirits of the nation. The inaugural Usiba Awards was held in May 2018. It intends to be an annual event that recognises artists not only in terms of commercial successes but also to consider other qualities such as ability, innovation, socio-political contribution as well as creative excellence. The awards covered all eight categories in the sector:

-Heritage and museums

-Performance and celebrations

-Visual arts and crafts

-Language and publishing

-Audio-visual and interactive media

-Design, and technical support services

-Indigenous wisdom

-Arts education.

The Usiba Ministerial Awards was preceded by an industry policy consultative conference used as a platform to discuss key policy matters in the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) with topics including the Copyright Amendment Bill, currently in Parliament, as well as the Revised White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage.

CCIFSA Briefing: Support Given to the Cultural & Creative Industries Federation of SA, in terms of both Upcoming and Experienced Artists

Mr Phemelo Sediti, CCIFA Secretary-General, said that culture plays an important role in shaping the identity, aspirations and relations of people, communities and countries. Without a doubt, heritage visual and performing arts, cinema, music, publishing, technical, events media, fashion, architect and design manifest themselves strongly in the daily lives of individuals and societies. Until now, the contribution of culture, in particular the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), to society and economy, have not been fully optimised. One of the major challenges facing this sector has been fragmentation, which continues to stifle growth and the potential contribution of the sector to the economy. This meant that until now, the effective strategic development and investment has been almost impossible to achieve.

International agencies, which have played a critical role in the dysfunctionality and monopoly of the music industry, we called upon to bring solutions for the problems they created. The Areas of Investigations, through oral and written submissions, pointed out the problematic areas as such:

- Inadequacy of legislative framework governing the industry

-Contracts: comparison to international best practice and education of musicians regarding their rights

-Human resource development: coordination of existing efforts

-Piracy

-Distribution and marketing: profile of SA music, e-commerce and establishing an export council

-Wholesaling and retailing: concentration of ownership

-Local content: quota level and monitoring

-Music publishing: access, control and copyright

Cultural and creative industries now formed a part of the Industry Policy Action Plan 2 (IPAP2), which meant it was now agreed the creative sector plays a significant role in the country’s economy. The DAC Ministry indicated that “the new vision of arts and culture goes beyond social cohesion and nourishing the soul of the nation. We believe that arts, culture and heritage play a pivotal role in the economic self-determination and skills development of a people. There is an urgent need for the sector, especially governments, to realise that the arts make a significant contribution to the economic development of a people. They create jobs, fight poverty and provide platforms for economic self-reliance” (Creative and Cultural Industries input to the National Development Plan, April 2012).

CCIFSA sectors were classified as follows:

1. Cultural and Natural Heritage: museums (including virtual museums), geology, palaeontology, archaeology, historical places, cultural landscapes, natural heritage

2. Performance and Celebration: performing arts, theatre, music, dance, festivals, rituals and events, days of commemoration, orchestra, story-telling

3. Visual Arts and Crafts: fine arts, photography, crafts

4. Languages and Publishing: books, newspapers and magazines, other printed and electronic material, library (including virtual libraries), book fairs and book clubs, archives, heraldry, languages

5. Audio-Visual and Interactive Media: film and video, TV and radio (including internet live streaming), internet podcasting, video games (including online)

6. Design, Creative and ACH Technical Support Services: fashion design, graphic design, interior design, furniture design, landscape design, architectural services, advertising services, arts, culture and heritage technical support services (e.g. lighting, sound, stage)

7. Arts Education and Training: Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority (CATHSSETA), Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges, artist in schools

8. Indigenous wisdom: heritage schools, arts and crafts, agricultural cooperatives, heritage and sacred routes, indigenous knowledge systems

The CCIFSA has the following broad objectives in terms of the CCI:

-address changing skills requirements in terms of the CCI

-improve access to finances in the sector

-create cross-sectoral opportunities for growth and investment

-encourage cooperation with other sectors, such as tourism

-encourage and facilitate the setting up of platforms, networks and clusters between all public and private stakeholders relevant to the creative sector

-encourage structured partnerships with social partners and all types of education and training providers

-promote recognition of qualifications in informal and non-formal education and training;

-improve investor-readiness of financial institutions and investor readiness of the CCI, devise dedicated financial instruments

-provide support for exploring and testing new audience development strategies and business models which are relevant in digital environments

- support digitisation of cultural content and development of online platforms

-embark on a marketing and branding campaign to strategically position the CCIFSA as the sole controlling body of the CCI sectors of SA

Mr Sediti said that government acknowledgement suggested that in any policy formulation exercise, including funding, the CCIFSA should be the recognised voice on behalf of all CCIs. This was in recognition of the reality that despite how hard the majority of CCI players try to organise themselves, it remains difficult to reach all corners of the country with limited resources. Access should not be limited by things like distance. At national level, it has taken for granted that that all people have access to the internet. Not all persons, especially those in rural areas, have access to platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter etc.

Key deliverables include:

-Key Performance Area (KPA) 1: Office Establishment – the CCIFSA inherited an Office Manager from the Interim Committee whilst occupying SAMRO House office. The CCIFSA relocated to Downtown Music Hub, which it manages, and has bought office equipment. The office was spacious enough to make it operational for the President, Treasurer-General and Secretariat with an added boardroom for meetings. The CCIFSA recently added two administrators with plans to employ an Executive Manager, who would do the CEO work as per the constitution, within the current financial year. More staffing would be done if the budget is increased by National Treasury

-KPA 2: introduction of the CCIFSA to Provincial Members of Executive Councils (MECs) and constituency - provincial road shows conducted assistance in establishing District Sector Councils which helped to establish Provincial Sector Councils (PSCs) in the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Free State and Limpopo. The MECs, through the Heads of Departments, host PSCs at their respective Arts and Culture provincial offices. Remaining provinces, like North West and Northern Cape, were to be launched and were also hosted at their provincial offices. Work was done through all nine Provincial Coordinators appointed by the CCIFSA President. It should be noted though that dynamics of provinces were dissimilar

-KPA 3: Engaging the Revised White Paper (RWP) – the CCIFSA went on a national road show with the DAC in 2016 (general consultations) and 2017 (sector-specific). The CCIFSA’s President was appointed by the Minister to form part of the Review Panel which introduced the RWP to Parliament. A policy conference for the RWP was held in May 2018 and the final submission was to be made to the DAC Portfolio Committee. The RWP emphasised transformation

-KPA 4: Branding, Communication and Marketing - a new website was designed (including a logo different from the initial launch) and banners were printed. A Public Relations company was to be appointed in this financial year to handle all marketing and publicity, including social media. The CCIFSA could become more visible if the budget is increased by Treasury

-KPA 5: fortify sectoral organised structure demographics and research on international case studies - The South African Cultural Observatory (SACO) was engaged and has assisted with statistics on employments in the CCIs. The CCIFSA intends to supply SACO with research agenda topics that have a grassroots bias in this financial year. The CCIFSA would do its Research and Development in the CCI only if the budget is increased by Treasury

-KPA 6: engaging the Copyright Amendment Bill - the CCIFSA submitted a position paper on the Copyright Amendment Bill to the Department of Trade and Industry and its Portfolio Committee. The intention was to protect creators of artworks and their Intellectual Property from the current draconian status quo. The Bill was currently in Parliament

-KPA 7: hosting Annual General Meeting (AGM) – the CCIFSA would host its AGM on the14 July 2018 and adopt a revised Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI) as a part of its ongoing process to transform the CCI for economic benefits accrued to Arts Practitioners and a better relationship with government

-KPA 8: establish the CCIFSA as a statutory body - plans to appoint a law firm to develop a Bill to make the CCIFSA a body that could regulate the CCI to entrench transformation, if Treasury increases budget

Mr Sediti said that whilst the CCIFSA aims to bring about transformation and elimination of poverty, challenges it faced included divided communities, lack of art spaces, few means of production, corruption, poor funding models and major monopoly of the sectors. The sector set-up model of the CCIFSA aimed to decentralise the DAC national programmes, accelerate prioritised targeted developments within regions, provide artists with greater accessibility , allow all artists from different sectors to benefit and build a true database of every ward and district municipalities to get a greater sense of provincial databases.

Due to the fact that CCIs were not regulated, formalised and were mostly fragmented, pressures of exploitation, poverty social inequality, economic development, monopoly and unfair practices rest heavily in creative industries.

Based on statistics collected, Mr Sediti said results showed that cultural and creative occupations contribute significantly to employment in SA. In 2014, the CCI made up 2.93% of total employment – this amounted to 443 778 jobs. Time- series analysis has shown that, while cultural employment was able to grow faster than non-cultural employment, it was more volatile and significantly affected by economic downturns. Compared to non-cultural jobs, more jobs in the CCI were in the informal sector, especially for women. There were also significantly more freelance workers in cultural employment.

In terms of the situational analysis:

-IPAP2 acknowledged the contribution to the economy by the creative sector

-The National Development Plan mentioned arts and culture in passing -Chapter 15 was not substantive

- The CCI industry was formalised in the UK, USA and Australia. China and South Korea have followed suit. There is the Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA (BRICS) cultural exchange agreement.  SA has a duty to follow such trends and reduce individual benefits - economic benefit should rather accrue to the majority

- The CCI contributed 2. 93% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2013/14, which amounted to R90.1 billion

-The DAC budget (2014/15) amounted to R3.9 9 billion to address social cohesion and nation building which affects 55 million plus citizens

Mr Sediti said that municipalities should become local facilitating agents for implementation of CCI initiatives where the CCIFSA would be required to monitor programme implementation through its national, provincial and district offices. Section 152 of the SA Constitution makes provision yet was not fully utilised seeing as focus has always been put on service delivery. Every ward should have a Community Art Centre as a matter of policy. Statistics from the Western Cape have shown that this helped reduce escalated crime and substance abuse.

Mr Sediti explained that the CCIs should be regulated through a statutory body. Such a body would assist government ascertain that transformation was attained in this country. Through an act of Parliament, such a body would be empowered to effect necessary changes.

The SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) took a revolutionary step in 2016 by declaring a 90% local content criterion which was welcomed by a vast majority of musicians. The CCIFSA proposes the Department legislate 90% local content for all radio stations and TV broadcasters who were issued licences by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).

A resolution was required to enhance CCIFSA forge relations with international governments that have agreements with RSA.

Departments affected by CCIFSA sectors, whose sub-mandate include social cohesion and nation building, lobbied to assist with financial resources and its members’ programmes in order to fully transform the CCI.

With a firm commitment from government and strong support in the form of legislature and policy, the CCIFSA was positioned favourable to positively impact creative industries in SA. Through establishment of a powerful and cohesive governing body, CCIs were now on a firm footing that would ensure it could contribute more meaningfully to economic and social advancement of the country. The CCIFSA encourages all South Africans to support the organisation in its mission to empower the industry that plays the greatest role in defining and expressing the identity of the people and the nation.

Mr Tony Kgoroge, CCIFSA President, referred to mapping done by the DAC in 2014 when the CCIFSA was preparing to come into office. Many organisations in the CCIs tended to be small and unregistered. The primary challenge reported by the organisations was lack of funding and support from private and public sectors. In order for the CCIFSA to take its rightful place as a federation, it needs to be affiliated to national organisations. Due to these problems, the CCIFSA has to simultaneously act as a federation and union. The CCIFSA struggles to communicate broadly and pay its members due to lack of funds available.

Mr Dodo Moses Monamodi, CCIFSA Treasurer-General, prepared to speak on the finances of the body but was halted by the Committee as the presentation did not contain this information,

The Chairperson advised the CCIFSA on how to better prepare for and assemble presentations that were meant to be reported to Committees as this was CCIFSA’s first presentation. The Chairperson advised the CCIFSA to email its Financial Report of 2015-2017 to the Committee Secretary so that it could be distributed to Members.

Discussion

Ms L Dlamini (ANC, Mpumalanga) said that the initiative of the CCIFSA was an important one. She commented that it was inappropriate for the executive to be primarily men - women with capacity must be appointed so that her full support could be given to the Federation. She asked what the R5 million could actually cover throughout the country. She agreed funding was not enough. She asked what skills the organisation requires, skills the organisation did have and how it contributed to social cohesion. She asked for clarity on what kind of body the CCIFSA wanted to be regarded as.

The Chairperson responded to say that the CCIFSA aimed to be a statutory body.

Ms Dlamini supported the initiative to play 90% local content but would not support a 100% policy as it would mean SA would be disconnected from the rest of the world.

Ms D Ngwenya (EFF, Gauteng) said that the Annual Performance Plan of the DAC should be revised. She asked for clarity on the Usiba Awards as it was her first time hearing of it. What was the process of nomination for these awards? How was this communicated and marketed through SA? She also sought to know how the Provincial Coordinators could be contacted so that they could be accessed. It was important for inexperienced and young artists to be educated about the business and legal side of this industry - what were the CCIFSA’s plans to accomplish this? She referred to the sectors as described by the CCIFSA noting that it is known that arts, like geology and archaeology, were predominantly white – what did the Federation intend to do to make these sectors more inclusive of black youth? She also asked what the CCIFSA would do to protect women in the industry as they were extremely vulnerable to issues like sexual assault and abuse. How would the organisation combat the major monopoly, not only internationally but within SA’s own creative industries, like film and television?

Ms Ngwenya added it was bothersome that 16 June was generally celebrated as a festival – were there any plans for a different sort of commemoration for the day that would be more dignified and a catalyst for change?

Ms T Mpambo-Sibhukwana (DA, Western Cape) (appreciated that the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) was led by the Deputy Minister (DM). As a mother who had brought up children, there was a stage in a infants development just before they started walking and when said child was producing teeth where particular events occurred. The Department was at that stage regarding the redeployment of DM Maggie Sotyu to the DAC. She knew Ms Sotyu from her previous position and trusted that she would succeed in her current deployment as she had shown skill and leadership previously. The DAC would under Ms Sotyu’s leadership restore the dignity of the arts, artist at large and cultures as it was painful to watch renowned artist dying poor where even the burial costs had to be covered from collections from strangers and fans. She requested that the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of SA (CCIFSA) intensify its marketing strategy so that it was more visible and that spoke to whether the Monitoring and Evaluation (M& E) of DAC was functional and effective. The M& E had to reach CCIFSA. CCIFSA also had to improve its communication with the DAC as it worked in the arts sector of which DAC was responsible and possibly she could have given a lot more guidance even in terms of the presentation before the committee. Where were CCIFSA provincial offices located? The work of CCIFSA was to find talent and to publish and market young talent. The committee had never been invited to the Bloemfontein Macufe jazz festival although the Portfolio Committee had been on numerous occasions.

She requested that the CCIFSA have a register of artists that were being supported by CCIFSA across the nine provinces so that DAC’s M& E unit could follow up on the development of said talent. Regarding the high rate of youth unemployment who and what youth had been recruited and were interns at CCIFSA? What programmes and initiatives had CCIFSA initiated or were undertaking that were influencing youth and their trajectory? She believed that if CCIFSA was to be merged with The Pan South African Language Board (PANSALB) surely some language development initiatives and cultural preservation work would emerge and develop with the assistance of DAC especially works and disciplines related to cultural and traditional preservation of Nguni history. Traditionally and historically people would be wedded having been chosen for each other by family and such arranged marriages seemed to outlast those of people that had chosen each other to date she was proposing through that analogy that PANSALB be merged with CCIFSA; even if that would be for certain projects.   

Mr C Hattingh (DA, North West) thanked the presenters and Deputy Minister for informing him of this Federation. Financial statements were necessary in order to be approved for more government funding. He asked for clarification on what the MOI was. If the CCIFSA is state-funded, there must be Annual Reports to explain how funds were allocated and spent.

Mr D Stock (ANC, Northern Cape) also welcomed the presentation as it was his first introduction to the CCIFSA. How would the Federation regulate and protect artists in situations when the relationship between the agent and the artist turns sour? Along with women, the youth must be included in the structure of the organisation.

The Chairperson thanked the presenters and reminded them of guidance given with regards to how to include finances into the report. She said the industry was a serious one that contributes largely to the GDP. Though rural areas were very difficult to develop, these areas must not be neglected.

Mr Mabaso proposed the Department and CCIFSA present a detailed report on the finances to elaborate on what could not be discussed in the meeting. The plan for the Department and CCIFSA would depend on how funding support from government would be allocated.

Mr Kgoroge said that majority of the CCIFSA’s national board members were women but this was not reflected in the executive board. Two of the six women in executive positions were retiring and would be replaced. The Federation was extremely disadvantaged by lack of funding as important skills could not be appointed nor could the CCIFSA properly market and advertise itself to all corners of SA.  

The Chairperson asked that the Members’ questions receive a written response as the meeting had already exceeded its time slot.

The meeting was adjourned.

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