Report: Budget Vote 14, dated 2 May 2012
Arts and Culture
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ARTS AND CULTURE ON BUDGET VOTE 14:
DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE, DATED 2 MAY 2012
The Portfolio Committee on
Arts and Culture, having considered Budget Vote 14: Department of Arts and
Culture, reports as follows:
1.
Introduction
1.1
The Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture
considered the 2012/2013 Budget of the
Department
of Arts and Culture (DAC) as part of its oversight function over the
Department. The Department of Arts and Culture briefed the Portfolio Committee
on Arts and Culture on its 2012/2013 budget on 18 April 2012.
1.2
Those appearing before the Committee included:
Officials from the Department of Arts and
Culture:
Mr
S Xaba (Director- General), Dr M Jokweni (Acting Deputy Director- General), Mrs
V Baduza (Chief Operations Officer), Dr S Tyiso (Chief Director: Coordination,
Monitoring, Evaluation and Governance), Mr C Greve (Chief Director: Human
Resources Management), Mr M Langa (Director: Financial Administration), Ms S
Mbatha (Chief Director: Programme of Action), Ms N Skhosawa (Director:
Financial Management), Mr I Langeveld ( Director: Heritage), Mr M Ledimo
(Acting Chief Director: Arts, Social Development and Youth), Mr L Ralebipi
(Deputy-Director: Office of the Director-General).
Other officials:
Prof
S Fikeni (Chairperson: Council of the South African Heritage Resources Agency),
Mrs S Van Damme (Chief Executive Officer: South African Heritage Resources
Agency), Ms B Samuels (Public Relations Officer: South African Heritage
Resources Agency), Ms N Jansen (Senior Manager: Finance, South African Heritage
Resources Agency ), Mrs A Makwetla (Chairperson: Council of the South African
National Arts Council ), Ms M Newton (Chief Executive Officer: South African
National Arts Council), Mr T Kubheka (Chief Financial Officer: South African
National Arts Council ), Ms M Ramagoshi (Chairperson: Council of the National
Film and Video Foundation), Mr George Leolo (Deputy Chairperson: Council of the
National Film and Video Foundation), Ms Z Mkosi (Chief Executive Officer:
National Film and Video Foundation), Mrs K Son (Chief Financial Officer:
National Film and Video Foundation), Mr M Zwane (Chairperson: Council of the
National Heritage Council), Advocate Mr S Mancotywa (Chief Executive Officer:
National Heritage Council), Prof S Ngubane
(Chairperson:
Council of the Pan South African Languages Board), Mr S Nkosi
(Acting
Chief Executive Officer: Pan South African Languages Board) Mr A V Mbilini
(Acting
Chief Financial Officer: Pan South African Languages Board), Ms M Rossouw
(Office on Institutions Supporting Democracy: Office of the Speaker to the
National Assembly).
2. Terms of Reference
2.1
The aim of the report is to present an intensive analysis of
the 2012/2013 budget of
the Department of Arts and Culture in order to assist the
Portfolio Committee on Arts
and Culture to perform its oversight function over the
Department, in particular to
enable the Committee to monitor and oversee its
expenditure of Public Funds.
2.2
Information contained in the report is based on
the Departments presentation as well as the 2012 Estimates of National
Expenditure (ENE).
2.3
The Report presents a programme by programme summary of the
Department of
Arts and Culture Budget, an overview of the key
observations and recommendations
made by the Committee.
3. Findings
3.1
The mandate of the Department of Arts and Culture is to
develop and preserve South
African arts and culture to ensure social cohesion and
nation building. To realize
this goal, the Department of Arts and Culture seeks to
create better conditions for the
production of, distribution and consumption of arts so as
to yield greater economic
and social benefits for communities and the country at
large.
3.2
In relation to government priorities and outcomes the
Department of Arts and Culture
has to respond to
An
empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship
(Outcome 12).
3.3
The Department also seeks to unleash the potential of the
arts, culture and heritage
Sector to contribute to job creation and economic growth
through a strategy called the
Mzansis Golden Economy.
3.4
The Mzansis
Golden
Economys aim is to redirect funds from the Investing in Culture
Programme to stimulate the economy on a broader scale to
create employment.
Through
the Mzansi Golden Economy, the Department seeks to contribute towards the national
goal of creating 5 million jobs within the next 10 years.
3.5
The Mzansi Golden Economy would work through existing
institutions and is built on
existing initiatives which could be categorized into five
areas namely: Stimulation of
demand, audience development and consumption, heritage, a
cultural observatory
and human capital development. The implementation of the
project is expected to
create 16000 work opportunities and 2300 full time
equivalent jobs between
2013/2014 and 2014/2015.
3.6
The Department of Arts and Culture seeks to increase the
proportion of Arts and
Culture practitioners in the South African workforce and
has thus far created 150 000
jobs and is thereby responsible for a significant
contribution to the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) of
3.1.1 Overview of Policy Priorities for the 2012/2013 financial year
The 2012/2013 budget place
emphasis on the following three key issues:
·
Promoting social cohesion through national
symbols and events
·
Language policy and archives
·
Strengthening public entities in the sector
Over the medium term, the
spending focus would be on the community library services conditional grants to
increase access to library services, transfers to various heritage and arts
institutions and the Mzansi Golden Economy Strategy.
The 2012 budget provides
for additional allocations of R77 million in 2012/13, R143, 9 million in
2013/14 and R198.9 million in 2014/15, as depicted below:
|
|
2012/2013
R000
|
2013/14
R000
|
2014/15
R000
|
|
Improvement in conditions of service: Department
|
3.669
|
5,965
|
6,527
|
|
Improvement in
Conditions of service:
Public entities
|
12,808
|
23,013
|
24,940
|
|
Mzansi Golden Economy
|
50,000
|
15,000
|
16,450
|
|
PanSALB
|
10,000
|
15,000
|
16,450
|
|
Total
|
77,017
|
143,878
|
198,917
|
-
R3.7 million in 2012/13, R6 million in
2013/14 and R6,5 million in 2014/15 for the department for the improvement
in conditions of service.
-
R13 million in 2012/13, R23 million in
2013/14 and R25 million for the public entities for improvement in
conditions of service.
-
R50 million in 2012/13, R100 million in
2013/14 and R150 million in 2014/15 for the Mzansi Golden Economy Strategy.
-
R10 million in 2012/13, R15 million in
2013/14 and R16, 5 million for the Pan South African Languages Board to
address operational shortfalls.
3.1.2 Overview of the 2012/2013 Budget
The
total budget allocation for the Department of Arts and Culture in the 2012/13
financial year is R2.7 billion. This showed a nominal increase of 5.86 per cent
compared to the previous financial budget. The total expenditure over the
seven-year period (2008/9 2014) increased from R2.1 billion to R3.1 billion
at an average annual rate of 6.8 per cent including inflation related
increases.
The main drivers of expenditure over the medium
term would be agency and support and outsourced services which was expected to
grow from R129.8 million in the 2011/12 financial year to R323.9 million in the
2014/15 financial year, at an average annual rate of 35.6 per cent and this
would be driven mainly by the Mzansi Golden Economy job creation project; the
Mzansi Golden Economy which in total is allocated R300 million from 2012/13 to
2014/15; transfers to public entities to the tune of over R60 million over the
same period specifically to improve conditions of service; the Pan South
African Language Board to the tune of R41.6 million to address its operational
shortfalls; Consultants who are estimated to cost the Department R46.7 million
this financial year and whose responsibilities would include assisting with the
implementation of the Mzansi Golden Economy projects, enhancing media liaison
strategies as well as implementing heritage infrastructure policies; and
Infrastructure which would take the largest chunk of the budget allocation that
would total R540.1 million by 2014/15 as indicated earlier.
3.1.3 Programme Analysis
Table 1: Programme allocations
|
Programme
|
Budget
|
Nominal
|
Real
|
Nominal % change
|
Real % change
|
|||
|
R
million
|
2011/12
|
2012/13
|
2013/14
|
2014/15
|
2011/12-2012/13
|
2011/12-2012/13
|
||
|
Programme
1:Administration
|
197.0
|
209.7
|
223.9
|
236.5
|
12.7
|
1.0
|
6.45 per cent
|
0.52 per cent
|
|
Programme 2:
Performing Arts
|
581.2
|
640.0
|
718.7
|
760.6
|
58.8
|
23.1
|
10.12 per cent
|
3.98 per cent
|
|
Programme 3:
National Language Services
|
100.3
|
111.9
|
124.1
|
132.7
|
11.6
|
5.4
|
11.57 per cent
|
5.35 per cent
|
|
Programme 4:
Cultural Development
|
171.8
|
180.4
|
227.8
|
281.1
|
8.6
|
-
1.5
|
5.01 per cent
|
-0.84 per cent
|
|
Programme 5:
Heritage
Promotion
|
766.7
|
744.2
|
835.4
|
884.8
|
-
22.5
|
-
64.0
|
-2.93 per cent
|
-8.34 per cent
|
|
Programme 6: National
Archives and Library Services
|
720.0
|
799.5
|
782.1
|
834.9
|
79.5
|
35.0
|
11.04 per cent
|
4.86 per cent
|
|
TOTAL
|
2 537.0
|
2 685.7
|
2 912.0
|
3 130.6
|
148.7
|
-
0.9
|
5.86 per cent
|
-0.04 per cent
|
A. Administration
The
main purpose of the Administration programme is to provide leadership,
management and support functions to the Department of Arts and Culture. The
Budget allocation for administration increased by 6.45 per cent in nominal
terms compared to the 2011/12 financial year. This translated to 0.52 per cent
in real rand over the same period. It was a slight increase in the budget
especially given the fact that the Department still had a vacancy rate of 27
per cent.
The programme was expected to spend R11
million on consultants between the 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 financial year. The
main reason for the hiring of consultants was the lack of capacity.
While
spending in the Corporate Services sub-programme was expected to increase from
R45,9 million in 2011/12, at an average annual rate of 24,9 per cent due to the
reprioritisation of funds to enable the funding of employee compensation as per
the revised establishment, spending in the management programme decreased from 80.2
million to R56.4 million over the same period, at an average annual rate of
11.1 per cent, due to realignment between the corporate services and management
sub-programmes.
B. Performing Arts
The
main purpose of the Performing Arts programme is to promote the performing arts
in the country. The programme consists of five sub-programmes namely:
Promotion of the Performing Arts
promotes and develops the literary, visual and performing arts
through policy development and providing financial assistance to performing
arts institutions, organisations, community centres and individuals;
National Arts Council
transfers funds to the South African National Arts Council (NAC) whose role is
to support arts and culture through financial support guided by finding
criteria that promote government objectives;
Arts Institutions
this transfers funds to various performing arts institutions to promote the
performing arts;
National Film and Video Foundation
transfers funds to the National Film and Video Foundation in support
of skills, local content and local marketing development in
Capital Works of Playhouses
funds and administers capital grants to playhouses for maintenance
and other capital projects.
As
seen from the above clarifications, almost all the sub programmes transfer
funds to various arts and culture institutions for various development purposes
or reasons. As a result, the programme expenditure increased from R369.2
million in 2008/09 to R581.2 million in 2011/12, at an average annual rate of
16.3 per cent.
Expenditure in this programme was expected to
increase to R460, 6 million over the medium term, at an average annual rate of
9.4 per cent largely due to maintenance, repairs and upgrading of arts and
culture institutions in the sub programme.
The
Department of Arts and Culture reported that it has appointed 3 consultants to
manage the Mzansi Golden Economy project at a cost of R5.6 million over a
period of three years.
C. National Language Services
This
programmes purpose is to promote the official languages of
Through this programme the Department awarded
119 postgraduate bursaries in the 2010/11 financial year and established the
South African Language Practitioners Council at a total cost of R5.2 million.
The Department has allocated R3.9 million for consultants over the medium term
and some of the responsibilities for these consultants would be to develop and
assist the roll-out of the telephone based information services and machine
translation tools.
D. Cultural Development
The
main purpose of the programme is to promote and develop South African arts and
culture by, amongst others, conducting research and innovation and to develop policies
and strategies that would create and sustain an enabling environment and
improve the regulatory framework of cultural industries. Expenditure in this
programme grew from R150.5 million in 2008/09 to R171.8 million in 2011/12, at
an average annual rate of 4.5 per cent, with transfers to households accounting
for the bulk of the increase in the expenditure. Expenditure in the programme
is expected to grow to R281.1 million over the medium expenditure, at an
average annual rate of 17.8 per cent.
The programme consists of three sub programmes
namely;
Cultural Development, Investing
in Culture
(which has since been absorbed into the new Mzansi Golden
Economy) and
International Cooperation
.
One of the key highlights of the Cultural Development sub programme is the fact
that it established the Art Bank which would be responsible for procuring and
creating 6 national artworks and 6 national events to be piloted plus 26
nationally supported events.
This programme faced some budgets cuts in the
2012/13 financial year to the tune of R2.3 million specifically for transfers
to households. One of the main reasons for the growth in expenditure in this
programme is costs for consultants which amounted to R4 million between 2012/13
and 2013/15.
E. Heritage Promotion
The
purpose of the programme is to provide policy, legislation and strategic
direction for identifying, conserving and promoting cultural heritage. It
consisted of five sub programmes namely;
Promotion
of Heritage
which funded a range of heritage initiatives such as
Heritage Month
and the
Bureau of Heraldry
; heritage
Institutions which funds and determines policy for declared cultural
institutions and heritage bodies by ensuring that funds to the institutions
were used to preserve, and protect heritage;
South African Heritage Resources Agency
which transfers funds to
the South African Heritage Resources Agency whose objectives are to develop and
implement norms and standards for managing heritage resources;
South African Geographical Names Council
which transfers funds to the South African Geographical Names Council whose
role is to facilitate name changes by consulting with communities to advise the
Minister; and the
Capital Works of
Heritage Institutions
which provides and administers grants for
infrastructure development for heritage institutions and the construction of
new commemorative structures for the national legacy projects.
This
programmes budget declined by 8.34 per cent in real rand, a change from the
2011/12 budget largely due to the completion of the construction of the Freedom
Park memorial site. Again, the Department has allocated R4.2 million for 2
consultants whose role will be to assist in the implementation of the heritage
infrastructure projects.
F. National Archives and Library Services
The
main purpose of this programme is to provide efficient management of archival
resources and to ensure more equitable access to library resources over the
Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). The programme consists of four sub programmes
namely;
National Archive Services,
National Library Services, Community Library Services
and
Capital Works of Libraries
. In terms of
the current budget allocations, this programme received the biggest chunk of
the budget.
The
expenditure for the programme increased from R456 million in 2008/09 to R720
million in 2011/12, the budget decreases by -0.04 per cent in real rand change
from the 2011/12 budget. Spending on the sub programme:
Capital Works of Libraries
was expected to increase from R8 million
in 2011/12 to R50 million in 2014/15, at an average annual rate of 84.2 per
cent, largely due to the upgrading of the National Archives fire system and old
library.
In
the 2010/11 financial year, the Department spent R302 million on the
construction of 10 libraries and the upgrading of 56 libraries. The Department
has allocated R11 million for consultants between 2012/13 and 2014/15 and their
functions would be to assist the Department to investigate the production of
Braille books for community libraries.
3.1.4 Presentation by the Department of Arts and
Culture on their 2012/2013 budget
Mr
S Xaba, Director- General, Department of Arts and Culture pointed out that R2,1
billion would be disbursed to entities. This amounted to 78 % of its budget.
The remainder of R585 million would be spent within the Department. This
amounted to 22% of its total budget.
He
briefly gave an explanation as to how the funds would be spent. He pointed out
that R564 million (21%) would be spent on conditional grants, R953 million on
agencies and accounts (35%), R483 million on capital works (18%), R13 million
on non-profit organisations (1%), R87 million on households (3%), R180 million
on compensation (7%), and R399 million on goods and services (15%).
He
indicated that funds spent within the Department would be R18 million on
compensation (31%), R399 million on goods and services (68%), R7 million on
capital assets (1%).
Mr
Xaba also gave a breakdown on how funds outside the Department would be divided
namely: R564 million on conditional grants (27 %), R953 million on agencies and
accounts (45%), R483 million on capital works (23%), R13 million on non-profit
organisations (1%), and R87 million on households (4%).
Mr
Xaba pointed out that the Department of Arts and Culture would need more funds
on its National Language Services programme, due to the implementation of the
South African Languages Bill.
3.1.5 Inputs by entities
Mrs
A Makwetla, Chairperson, Council of the South African National Arts Council
welcomed the increase in its budget allocation for the financial year under
review, but implored for an additional improvement in its budget allocation.
She indicated that the National Arts Council was transforming. She thanked the
Department for its assistance in the employment of the new Chief Executive
Officer and Chief Financial Officer. She pointed out that the Arts Council was
focusing on its governance structures and would like its shareholders pact
converted to a service level agreement. She also pointed out that they were in
the process of reviewing their funding models to be more aligned with the arts
communities.
Prof
S Fikeni, Chairperson, Council of the South African Heritage Resources Agency indicated
that the South African Heritage Resources Agency has increased the declaration
of heritage sites twofold. He cautioned that if the Heritage Resources Agency
would remain with the limited resources it currently had at its disposal the
Heritage Resources Agency would fail. He indicated that the Heritage Resources Agency
was involved in engagements with the Department of Arts and Culture on the
costing of the Heritage Resources Act. He also pointed out that he was glad to
announce that the Heritage Resources Agency had succeeded in appointing a fully
constituted audit committee.
Advocate
Mancotywa, Chief Executive Officer, National Heritage Council acknowledged the
Budget Vote of the Department of Arts and Culture and indicated that heritage
was a strategic resource. He pointed out that the Heritage Council was grateful
for the increase of its budget allocation. He indicated that the Heritage
Council would take care of what it had. He cautioned the Committee that it
would appear government was only protecting the institutions that had been
inherited from the past. He informed the Committee that the
Mrs
M Ramagoshi, Chairperson, Council of the National Film and Video Foundation
extended her appreciation on behalf of the foundation for the shareholders pact
that has been signed. She indicated that the council of the foundation was of
the opinion that the production of films had the capacity to create more jobs.
This she said had the potential of relieving the Department of Arts and Culture
in the funding in the filming cities and thereby alleviating the synergies in
the Provinces.
Prof
S Ngubane, Chairperson, Council of the Pan South African Language Board
informed the Committee that the Language Board was, contrary to popular belief,
functioning. The Council had regular meetings and a Board of Directors had been
appointed for all nine National Language Units. The Language Board had just
completed the Khoisan dictionary. He welcomed the budget allocation of the
Language Board and appealed that the Language Board be afforded the opportunity
to fulfil its constitutional mandate. He proceeded to inform the Committee that
since its last engagement with the Committee, the Language Board had
implemented mechanisms to ensure accountability.
4. Committee observations
The
Committee welcomed the presentation by the Department of Arts and Culture, but
noted that the Department failed to promote the diversity around their
projects. The Committee expressed concerns around the dysfunctional state of
the Pan South African Languages Board.
The
Committee also expressed a concern around the monitoring capabilities of the
Department of Arts and Culture specifically on their entities and bursaries
that had been awarded to students.
The
Committee expressed its concerns around the huge costs associated in the
employing of consultants by the Department
The Committee has noted that despite its various pleas,
the Pan South African
Language Board has not heeded its call and continues
to engage in unnecessary court
cases.
5. Appreciation
The
Committee extends its appreciation for all inputs made by the Department of
Arts and Culture and entities.
6. Recommendations
6.1
The
Committee recommends that the budget allocation of the Pan South African
Languages Board be cut to only include salaries of all staff or recommends alternatively
that the Department of Arts and Culture control the budget of the Pan South
African Languages Board as the Pan South African Languages Board has been
utilizing public funds on unnecessary court cases. The Committee would thus
request the Minister of Arts and Culture to consider decreasing the Budget allocation
of the Pan South African Language Board.
6.2
The Committee recommends
that the House adopt the Budget Vote of the Department
of Arts and Culture.
Report to be considered
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