Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport 2018/19 Annual Report

Meeting report

Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS) 2018/19 Annual Report
Western Cape Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Ms Anroux Marais, made introductory remarks. She said that the Department would have failed to achieve its mandate if it did not spend its budgetary allocations on vulnerable communities. She asked the Head of the Department to make a brief overview of the year under review.

Mr Brent Walters, DCAS Head of Department, said that the department had a very successful year, its reach has been diverse staying true to its vision. The Department achieved 106 of its 108 performance targets for 2018/2019. It has created more 1000 jobs in the form of interns and Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

Discussion
Ms L Botha (DA) emphasised that the annual report is indeed a serious matter. She lauded the Department for achieving the seventh clean audit. Ms Botha asked about the mode of communication used to communicate to communities the heritage routes initiated by DCAS. Had communities responded by starting tourism businesses along the routes?

Ms A Bans (ANC) asked about the different sporting codes supported by DCAS in 2018/19 and the expenditure on the sporting codes. She asked about DCAS programme that was implemented to support and recognise the culture of the Khoi and San. She requested an update of the study being done on the subject.

Mr M Kama (ANC) asked the performance indicators that DCAS uses to evaluate achievement of its vision and mission. She asked why the Chief Director of the After-school Programme and the Director for Content Enterprise were on contract and if the Director for Content Enterprise was appointed to act in the position.

Mr P Marais (FF+) asked if sport can be used to eradicate substance abuse. He asked about the department interventions to bring theatre and arts closer to disadvantaged communities, saying that the Artscape Theatre is far from these communities. He urged DCAS to promote the various cultures and artists in the disadvantaged communities.

Mr M Xego (EFF) asked about its programmes to address Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Mr R Allen (DA) enquired about the performance indicators used to measure the After School Game Changer programme.

Mr Brent Walters responded that the DCAS mandate is not only about sport, it has many other programmes to promote social inclusion and give a sense of belonging to the people of the province as per its vision and mission. The WOZA programme is an all society programme to integrate the government programme at all service delivery points. People on the ground wanted to experience a seamless government. The department use the citizen reports, working in collaboration with sport councils, to engage communities and civil society. DCAS used the number of the people who have participated in its programmes as the indicator for social inclusion.

Mr Walters replied that the Director for Content Enterprise position was created to manage department archives. The messaging of DCAS speaks against drugs and substance abuse. The challenge facing DCAS in the year under review was to reach the high expectation with the limited resources and building community organisations.

On the heritage routes, Mr Guy Redman, Chief Director: Cultural Affairs reported that they had conducted meetings with stakeholder communities about liberation heritage routes  that can be recognised as a world heritage route. It was launched in April 2019 and it is still early to assess its impact. The department has trained tourist guides and provided assistance to the municipalities to manage the routes.

On support to the Khoi and San, DCAS is assisting with a production in Khoe language working with Artscape. Engagements were held with the University of Cape Town for the standardisation of the Khoi language, writing a Nama book and translating it onto a CD. Other engagements were held with the San on circumcision; they have their own committee on the matter. The study on the Khoi and San was commissioned by the Department of Local Government and DCAS participated as one of the key stakeholders. The study seek to understand the implications of the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill on the Province of the Western Cape, seeing that the province does not have a House of Traditional Leaders like other provinces. Therefore the study was aimed at learning from other provinces.

Mr Paul Hendricks, Director: Sport Development, added that DCAS does have regular engagements with Sport Federations. There were special engagements held with the Minister in the department calendar. The department does not have special programme dealing with fetal alcohol syndrome.

Ms Jacky Boulle, Chief Director: After-School Game Changer replied that the number of school sites, number of learners participating, attendance and achievements, be it academic or sport achievements, are used as indicators to measure the success of the After-School Game Changer.

Ms Brenda Rutgers, DCAS Chief Financial Officer, reported that the two areas of underspending for 2018/19 related to the filling of vacant positions as the recruitment processes were complex and took too long to be completed. The department funding targets sporting codes and federations including girls.

Ms L Botha (DA) asserted that DCAS is indeed the bridge that connects diverse communities and people. She asked about the progress it is making in ensuring that libraries are accessible to all.

Mr Walters replied that Western Cape does have special services for visually impaired members and had opened three libraries accessible to people with different disabilities. There is a library for the blind.

Ms Bans asked if the relevant people were informed about the study on the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill. Does the Minister have plans to engage the relevant communities on the study.

Mr Redman replied that the lead department in the study was the Department of Local Government and it  arranges all formal engagements on the matter. DCAS deals with the cultural activities.

Mr M Kama (ANC) asked if the libraries in the rural areas were accessible to disabled people. He asked if DCAS has a policy to protect whistleblowers.

Mr Walters replied that all libraries have disability facilities. DCAS has a hotline and a policy on whistleblowing and fraud prevention.

Mr Redman replied to the question on the traditional leaders study and said the Western Cape Government is waiting for the introduction of the Bill. A traditional leaders commission, like the Nhlapho Commission, will be established to guide the recognition of traditional leaders in different communities.

Mr Marais asked about if DCAS had a programme to support other indigenous tribes beside the Khoi and San, such the Griquas. He asked about the mechanisms used to distinguish between the tribes.

Mr Redman replied that the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill defines the tribes in broad terms and the department is following the definition in the Bill.

Ms R Windvogel (ANC) asked if the department had implemented an antiracism programme last year.

Mr Walters replied that DCAS looks for the things that binds the people of the province. In sport, DCAS held Indigenous Games in all six districts, these were followed by the Golden Games and festivals to promote social cohesion.

Mr Xego (EFF) asked what is being done to promote music of artists from the province. He asked if DCAS was dealing with the internet deficit in libraries and requested an update about the status of repairs to library buildings.

He asked about the fraud and corruption cases and how they were resolved. He asked for the reasons for the under expenditure that resulted from the failure to recruit interns for the After-School Game Changer.

Ms Boulle replied that the budget to recruit interns was received from the adjustment budget and DCAS had to recruit graduates with mathematics. However, it experienced difficulties to attract Maths graduates. Even those that were successfully recruited quickly moved on to other opportunities as they felt the stipend R4.000 provided by DCAS was too little.

Ms Cecilia Sani, Director: Library Services, replied that there is connectivity to more than 200 libraries in the province and the internet is not capped. Repairs were being done to Zwelihle Library which was gutted during a service delivery protest.

Ms Bans asked for the number of sport federations that received funding such as for women sport and boxing. She asked the amount of money spent on the Lavender Hill softball pilot project and if the pilot will be scaled up to other areas. She requested an explanation about the unspent allocation made to a federation in George.

Mr Paul Hendricks, DCAS Director: Sport Development, replied that the funding for sport federations is based on the demand. The department advertises an annual call for proposals and all federations have to respond to the call and those that have replied have been funded. The department will provide a report on organisations that were funded to the Committee. Funding for sport federation is provided from a conditional grant received from the national department. However, there was a budget cut in 2018/19 leading to a reduced number of funded organisations from 300 to 180.

On the unspent funds, a meeting was held with the George federation which could not accept the funding and requested that it be transferred to another organisation in Oudtshoorn. The department transported the boxing teams from George and Cape Metro to a boxing tournament in Durban.

Mr M Kama (ANC) asked about the interventions to hold the people responsible for vandalising department facilities. He noted that attendance numbers for the After-School programme dropped in 2018/19 and asked for the reasons for the underspending. He asked about the various ways in which DCAS is able to manage the diverse interests of the different cultural practices and groups, especially on what gets displayed in the museums. What has been done to address the need for the land for initiation and circumcision. He asked if DCAS had a programme to promote school sport and if school sport initiatives are linked to the programmes of local sport federations.

Mr Walter agreed that vandalism of new facilities during protests is a big challenge and it affects communities because there is such a great demand for facilities from different communities. Therefore those communities affected by vandalism have to wait before they can be in line for a new budget allocation. On the underspending, Mr Walters lamented that recruitment processes are taking too long. However, the department vacancy rate is only around 1%.

Ms Boulle replied that the drop in the attendance of the After-School programme was affected by the exams and by the fact that the programme is voluntary.

Mr Redman noted that the display of human remains at museums is governed by an Act of Parliament. There has been a directive to release the human remains illegally acquired back to the families for reburial.

Mr Redman replied that DCAS has an initiation reference group and forums. These are leading discussion in the communities, especially assisting single mothers in preparing their boys for the initiation customs. To date DCAS has established 33 forums and regular engagements were held with municipalities to include land for initiation schools in their spatial development frameworks. Challenges were experienced in the City of Cape with various parcels of land reserved for initiation schools due to land grabs by communities. Engagements are being held among the relevant parties to resolve the matter.

Mr Hendricks replied that school sports clubs were established and linked to the local sport federations.

Mr L Mvimbi (ANC) lauded DCAS for using the three official languages in the province in its 2018/19 Annual Report. He asked if there are plans to make the Khoi and San languages official. He asked for the selection criteria used to select sport legends. Do only celebrities get selected or are communities permitted to select legends from their own communities? Most of the major events held in the province are the sports of the minorities. The events are never around rugby or soccer which are the sports loved by the majority of the population.   

Mr Hendricks, Director: Sport Development, replied that major events are open to all sport federations and are based requests submitted to DCAS. For example, during 2018 a major boxing event was held in KwaNonqaba in Mossel Bay.

Mr Thabo Tutu, Director for Sport Promotion, replied that the legends programme was started in 2005. Since then the process has been driven by the sport federations with DCAS only playing a supporting role. It is the federations that are responsible for the nomination of the sport legends.

On the language policy, Mr Redman replied that DCAS has a provincial language policy and is working with PANSALB on the project to develop the Khoi languages. The project is being led by Prof Goldberg. The department is promoting rural drama groups and has funded the drama organisations from rural areas to prepare their groups in order to perform on formal stages.

Mr Marais asked about the process for the renaming of the Cape Town airport. There is suggestion that it be named after one of the Khoi and San heroes, Krotoa. This could assist many to learn more about the indigenous people of the Cape and their heroes.

Due to the violence taking place in many communities in the Cape Metro, Mr Marais asked if it is possible for DCAS to engage municipalities to promote indoor netball and the five-a-side soccer which can be played in the municipal halls.

Mr Walters welcomed the idea of promoting indoor sports.

Dr Mxolisi Dlamuka, Director of Museums, Heritage and Geographical Names and Heritage Western Cape CEO, replied that the airport renaming process was voluntary and a national competence. The provincial directorate submitted proposals but to date DCAS has not yet received feedback.

Mr Xego questioned the absence of people with disabilities in the DCAS staff establishment. He asked about the nature, seriousness and the outcomes of the disciplinary cases. He noted that about 16 people took incapacity leave during the year and asked if their cases were investigated.

Mr Walters replied that the department has a 2% target for employing people with disabilities. This was met as there are 12 people in DCAS staff establishment. A rigorous process is followed for incapacity leave which involves a senior medical specialist and the final recommendation is taken by the Health Risk Manager who advises the Head of Department.

Ms Ban asked the reason for such a high number for incapacity leave. She asked if DCAS has enough language practitioners.

Ms Rutgers replied that the high rate of incapacity leave was as the result of the end of the leave cycle. The department does not have enough language practitioners. It will be filling a number of vacant positions in the ensuing financial year.

Mr Kama asked if DCAS developed a workplace skills plan or identified a training programme which officials attended on an ad hoc basis. He asked if all grievance cases were finalised

Ms Rutgers replied that all grievance cases were finalised and there is a proactive process that DCAS engages in to identify skills gaps among the staff members. Training programmes are then identified to close the skills gaps but in some instances DCAS considers the growth progression for staff members.

Input by members of the public
Mr Mlandeli Mbi from Nyanga Tourism Forum asked what DCAS is doing about crime in Nyanga, seeing that the areas is known as the murder capital of South Africa. He requested an update on the process of establishing the Nyanga Sport Museum at the Nyanga Stadium.

Mr Tutu replied that the matter of the Nyanga Sport Museum is being handled between DCAS and the sport federations in the area.

Heritage Western Cape
The council chairperson for Heritage Western Cape, Dr Du Toit, gave introductory remarks followed by Mr Mxolisi Dlamuka, Heritage Western Cape CEO. Both lauded a good year for Heritage Western Cape.

Ms L Botha (DA) asked about the Heritage Western Cape programme to restore the fire-damaged heritage buildings and houses for the people of Wuppertal

Dr Dlamuka replied that Heritage Western Cape had visited Wuppertal in December 2018 to assess the damage. It has since appointed architects to look at the original designs of the buildings.

Dr Du Toit added that engagement with the community and other stakeholders, locally and internationally, had ensued. Heritage Western Cape has initiated a process to resolve land tenure challenges in the area. The process for the identification of inclusive heritage resources is undertaken by the mission station.

Ms Bans asked if Heritage Western Cape has experienced difficulties with the approval of heritage plans. She asked the methods used by it to expedite the approval of building plans for essential services such schools and hospitals.

Dr Dlamuka replied that Heritage Western Cape has adopted a proactive approach to expedite critical services. Charges were laid but the National Prosecuting Authority refused to proceed with the cases. The cases brought forward included a case about the Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA) which is before the courts. 81% of the cases were resolved internally.

Mr Xego asked if social inclusion could be built on the foundations that are based on colonial heritage. He asked if Heritage Western Cape implemented programmes to empower poor people whose properties were identified to form part of the national heritage. He requested Heritage Western Cape clarify the demographic representation of its board

Dr Dlamuka replied that concerns were raised about the demographic representativeness of the previous Heritage Council. However, that has changed since the incoming Council has better representation. Regarding social inclusion and the colonial heritage, Heritage Western understands that the current democratic dispensation was born out of a negotiated settlement. There are plans to transform the sector, municipalities have heritage plans and the department is assisting the poor to comply with the heritage requirements.

Ms Windvogel asked the reason for granting the River Club and the Philippi Horticultural Area a provisional protection instead of full heritage right protection.

Dr Dlamuka replied that in the cased of PHA, Heritage Western Cape struggled to find the owners through registered mail as per the relevant Act. They then decided that it would appropriate to give it a provisional protection in the interim. Heritage Western Cape often grants provisional protection as a strategy to initiate the communication process with property owners. In the case of River Club there was an appeal, however the site is provisionally protected.

Ms Bans requested that the Committee be given the list of the new members of the Heritage Council.

Input from members of the public
Mr Melvin Arendse asserted that the Western Cape is the heritage estate of the !Kai Korana people. The existing heritage legislation is not empowered to assist pre-colonial families that want to be protected under the Heritage Act. There seems to be a conflict between the Heritage Act and the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill. The submission for the claim will be made by the !Kai Korana and other tribes based on the Heritage legislation. Therefore the Western Cape Minister should have a consultant team that will align the existing Heritage Western Cape legislation to accommodate the pre-colonial claims by indigenous groups such the !Kai Korana.

Dr Dlamuka replied that the department will engage Mr Arendse and the group that he is representing on the concerns raised.

Western Cape Cultural Commission
Ms Bans asked about the reason for the over expenditure on the allocated budget. She asked if DCAS has contributed financially to the structural repairs undertaken by the Department of Transport and Public Works.

Ms Rutgers replied that the over expenditure resulted from the services in kind in the technical adjustment. Department of Transport and Public Works carried all the cost for the repairs made to some of the facilities.

Western Cape Language Committee
Ms Windvogel asked the position of the Council on the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill.

Ms Jane Moleleki, Director for Art, Culture and Language Services, replied that DCAS is in principle supporting what the Bill seeks to achieve.

Ms Bans asked if there are plans to include sign language in the YouTube channel of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. She asked about the plans of the Western Cape Language Committee to support the recognition of the Khoi and San languages.

Ms Moleleki replied that the inclusion of sign language to the YouTube channel of WCPP is the prerogative of that institution. The Western Cape Language Committee does not venture into the operations of the institutions. Engagement were held with the Khoi and San groups and this will be reflected in the new DCAS Annual Performance Plan.

The Western Cape Minister thanked the Standing Committee for the robust engagement.

Resolutions
The Committee listed the Resolutions requiring action from DCAS:
1. Number libraries that are competent for people with disabilities 
2. List of disciplinary cases and grievances
3  Report on incapacity leave cases
4. Report on sick leave taken on Friday, Monday and month end
5. Report on Heritage applications submitted in 2018/19  

Meeting adjourned.