Question NW3239 to the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture

Reply:

(1). Insofar as nation-building and reconciliation do not imply preserving the inherited vestiges of the unjust society characterised by racial discrimination, repression, and flagrant violations of human rights against the majority, or ignoring the necessity of guaranteeing that race, ethnicity, and/or political persuasion is not a determining factor in the material conditions of South Africans as they did in the past, the Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture continues to spearhead and coordinate the Government’s Priority 6 Social Cohesion Programme of Action as part of a rallying call to transform the material conditions of our country in order to foster conditions that are favourable for genuine reconciliation, social cohesion, and nation-building.

As should be expected, the Department, through its various Departmental programmes, contributes significantly to nation-building and reconciliation among South Africans of all races, ethnicities, and other social enclaves. Among key programmes coordinated under this Priority Area is National Days Programme through which the Department continues to pursue social cohesion, reconciliation, and national

unity. This has been accomplished by deliberately making sure that the National Day is observed not just on its actual day but also for the entire month that it falls within.

This has made it possible for the National Days Programme to be diversified throughout the month by including a range of build-up or post-national day initiatives such as dialogues, seminars, and sports and arts activities. In this manner, even South Africans who do not prefer the traditional rally format in stadiums which is ordinarily employed for National Days are accommodated and do fully participate in the celebrations and are involved in the discourse around nation-building that comes at the back of our National Days given their link to our liberation history.

Additionally, the Department also utilises its Public Entities to reach as many South Africans as possible through the National Days programme. Utilising initiatives such as theatre, exhibitions and dialogues, the Public Entities play a significant role in the National Days programme by making sure that the programme reaches their niche audiences, thereby contributing significantly to the diversity of reach of the programme. This guarantees that National Days are celebrated on an intercultural basis fully inclusive of all South Africans and serve as a platform for introspection on our past and current concerns around nation-building, freedom, unity, and reconciliation.

The Department also implements several established community engagement initiatives that are designed with the express purpose of reflecting and mobilising our communities in the efforts of our country to address numerous challenges related to social cohesion and nation-building. These programmes include:

• The Social Cohesion Advocates Programme – This programme consists of a cohort of eminent persons in our society who create platforms to promote unity, peacebuilding reconciliation, and social cohesion in our communities. Given their expertise as, among others, peacebuilders, facilitators, and general experts in promoting social cohesion, nation-building, and reconciliation, the Social Cohesion

• Advocates continue to work with various stakeholders such as civil society, faith-based organizations, and Traditional Leaders throughout our country to promote
• peaceful coexistence and respond to events that put the stability of our communities and country in jeopardy.
• Community Conversations programme – This programme is meant to bridge existing divisions, among others, along race, class, gender, religion, culture, and other social contours to foster social integration and inclusion. The Department has adopted the Community Capacity Enhancement approach to Community Conversations, which promotes the use of dialogue and deliberation skills by communities in response to challenges rather than the recent wave of violent protests and social eruptions. This programme also deepens understanding of the “other” and fosters intergroup connections, all with the aim of strengthening social cohesion, nation-building, and reconciliation in our communities and country.

To guarantee that nation-building, social cohesion, and reconciliation are not merely theoretical concepts without the potential to impact inherited racial inequality, the Department remains steered by the recommendation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to redress the past inequities, whilst integrating the previously marginalised heritage to cultivate the prospects of authentic reconciliation and social cohesion. To this end, the Department carries out the Heritage Legacy Project, whereby the Department has constructed several heritage sites and erected monuments and statues in pursuit of the transformation of the heritage landscape. For this MTSF period, these include the Sarah Baartmann Center of Remembrance; Winnie Mandela House in Brandfort; OR Tambo Legacy Project; JL Dube Amphitheatre.

The Department has further repatriated and reburied the human remains of several South Africans who were victims of our racist and brutal past such as Sarah Baartman, J B Marks, Moses Kotane and Klaas and Trooi Pienaar.

Through the South African Geographical Names Council, the Department continues to standardise the geographical names in South Africa to redress, correct and

transform our country with major towns recently changed such as Gqeberha from Port Elizabeth, Kariega from Uitenhage, Qonce from King Williamstown, and Winnie Mandela from Brandfort, and major airports having been recently changed that include the King Phalo from East London and Chief Dawid Stuurman from Port Elizabeth.

To create a national identity that is inclusive of all people and transcends racial, ethnic, religious, and other aspects of social identity, the Department has specific programmes to popularise national symbols such as the flag in every school project, the #IamtheFlag campaign, and workshops that raise awareness of national symbols based on our Passport of Patriotism. These initiatives, just to name a few, insofar as heritage is concerned, offer genuine prospects for genuine nation-building and reconciliation, and an overarching national identity that is based on the iconography that accurately reflects the demographic dynamics of our country.

The Department has specific Sports and Arts - in particular performing arts – programmes that are geared towards uniting people and building a cohesive nation where race, ethnicity and other social enclaves are not a determining factor to the life circumstances of South Africans. Sport brings people of different cultures, languages, religions, and ages together to celebrate one event, one sport, or just sport. The Department continues to promote sport as a crucial platform for promoting initiatives like prevention of GBVF, promotion of human rights, inclusion, non-racism, non-sexism, and many other important issues in society. In fact, through the Service Level Agreements, the Department has instructed different Sporting Codes to align with the National Priorities.

The results of this can be seen with the Soccer Premier League which has continued broadcasting messages calling for the end of gender-based violence, which has persisted as a worrying plague in our nation.

School sport has also proven to be a very important vehicle for promoting non-racialism and non-sexism as it brings learners from different backgrounds to interact across diverse enclaves of our society. During the MTSF period, over R1 billion has been spent on the School Sport programme, with a reach of over 419 472 learners who have participated in district championships across the country, thus creating an apt opportunity for interaction and promotion of non-racialism and non-sexism.

In the main, the Department takes particularly serious its role lead in fostering social cohesion and nation-building. This work remains critical as the legacy of colonialism and apartheid still lingers on and thus continues to texture social circumstances even in the current context of constitutional democratic order. Through the Mzansi Golden Economy Program, and in keeping with the third objective of the Priority 6 Social Cohesion Programme of Action, which is to promote social cohesion through increased interaction across space and class, the Department continues to support several arts initiatives that aim to draw diverse races and social enclaves of our country, thereby fostering unity, reconciliation, and trust in one another. These initiatives include, among others:

1. Joy of Jazz in Johannesburg, Gauteng

2. Innibos Afrikaans festival in Nelpruit, Mpumalanga

3. National Arts Festival in Makhanda, Eastern Cape

4. Johannesburg Comedy Festival – Johannesburg

These initiatives continue to be crucial in fostering not only interaction but also trust among those from diverse backgrounds. In the main, trust between people fosters the cohesion required for the promotion of genuine conditions for reconciliation and nation building thereby lowering the undesirable instances of, among others, racism, xenophobia, and homophobia.

(2). The South African Constitution has an important principle called the separation of Powers meaning the power of the state is divided between three but interdependent components. In the case of Afriforum vs Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the court made a ruling on the matter and Members of Parliament advised to be guide by that decision. The singing of the song Dubul’ ibhunu - “Kill the Boer - Kill the Farmer” - was not hate speech, Judge Edwin Molahlehi, sitting as an Equality Court in the High Court in Johannesburg,