Question NW2692 to the Minister of Sport
26 November 2020 - NW2692
Luthuli, Mr BN to ask the Minister of Sport
With reference to the South African producer, Master KG, who was recently awarded with the MTV European Music Award for Best African Act, which illustrates the possible opportunities available for South African artists to expand globally, what kind of support does his department provide to artists looking to expand and become globally competitive?
Reply:
The Department has a programme called Touring Ventures, initiated to deliver on the aims and objectives of the Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) funding strategy. This is a Strategic Market Access Programme. The programme’s mission is to provide opportunities for market access, audience development and the creation of job opportunities for local artists. The programme supports projects that are toured locally or internationally to showcase and promote diverse South African based arts products, that includes artists.
In August 2020, the Minister appointed Master KG and NomceboZikode as Cultural Diplomacy Ambassadors as part of existing initiatives to position the South African Arts and culture products on international platforms. This initiative further makes it easy for the country’s local artists to participate on reputable internationally platforms, also, for other South African artists’ work to be recognized globally. Since the appointment, a number of arts organisations showed interest in getting them participate in international festivals.