ATC130509: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture on Budget Vote 14: Department of Arts and Culture, dated 9 May 2013

Arts and Culture

REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ARTS AND CULTURE ON BUDGET VOTE 14: DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE, DATED 9 MAY 2013

REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ARTS AND CULTURE ON BUDGET VOTE 14: DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE, DATED 9 MAY 2013

The Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture, having considered the 2013/14 budget and the Annual Performance Plan of the Department of Arts and Culture, Vote 14, reports as follows:

1. Introduction

1.1 The Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture considered the 2013/2014 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 2013/2014 budget on 24 April 2013.

2. Terms of Reference

2.1 The aim of the report is to present an intensive analysis of the 2013/2014 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 Department’s presentation as well as the 2013 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 DAC derives its mandate from the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act No. 108 of 1996) with specific focus on language and culture, access to information and, to some extent, education.

3.2 The work of the Department also speaks largely to one of government’s 12 outcomes, namely Outcome 12: An empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship. DAC strives to enhance nation building, national identity citizen participation and social cohesion.

3.3 The Department declared 2013/14 the year of the Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE), a vehicle through which large scale public investment will be channelled to develop the arts and the creative economy.

3.4 The Mzansi’s Golden Economy’s 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.

3.1.1 Overview of Strategic Goals of the Department of Arts and Culture

The Department of Arts and Culture aims to achieve the following objectives:

· Job creation

Create 150,000 decent jobs in the arts, culture and heritage sector by 31 March 2016 .

· Human capital development

Implement targeted programmes that are geared towards human capital development in the arts, culture and heritage sector by 2014.

· Access to information

Enhance access by citizens and public institutions to accurate, reliable and timely information in their language of choice though the provision of archives, libraries, and language services .

· Linguistic diversity

Entrench linguistic diversity in a manner that facilitates equitable cultural expression by citizens and communities.

· Development, protection, preservation and promotion of arts, culture and heritage

Enhance capacity of the sect or through equitable and sustainable development, protection and preservation of arts, culture and heritage (through policy development, legislative promulgation and implementation).

· Governance and accountability

Align of public sector art, culture and heritage institutions around a shared vision, common mandate and strong governance and accountability.

3.1.2 Overview of the 2013/14 Budget

For the 2013/14 financial year, the total budget allocation is R2.9 billion. Relative to the 2012/13 financial year, during which the budget was R2.7 billion, this translates into a nominal increase of 9.1 per cent. The actual increase is 3.3 per cent, after the inflation rate is factored.

Programme 4 received the largest increase in 2013/2014 compared to the other programmes – 32.2 per cent in real terms. This is due to the implementation of the MGE projects, while Programme 6 sees the continuation of providing community library services however, with a complete shift of the library services function from municipalities to provinces. This also accounts for the growth in transfers to provinces over the medium term.

The Department’s goals and spending in these programmes are in alignment with the principles set out in the National Development Plan (NDP). This plan highlights the importance of the arts and culture sector in nation building and social cohesion. The plan also recognises the potential of the arts and culture sector to contribute to job creation. The Department will prioritise the implementation of the MGE strategy over the medium term. This means that the Department will identify and invest in programmes that could potentially maximise growth and employment in the sector. It also entails increasing access to community library services. Thus community library infrastructure, facilities and services will be enhanced. DAC’s commitment to enhancing capacity within the sector is also evidenced by planned financial support to artists to the tune of an estimated R182.2 million.

The 2013 budget provides for additional allocations of R13.3 million in 2013/14, R407.9 million in 2014/15 and R711.9 million in 2015/16. The focus of these additional allocations is primarily on DAC entities for improved conditions of service. The following additional allocations have been highlighted by the ENE:

· R4.6 million in 2013/14, R5.6 million in 2014/15 and R8.8 million in 2015/16 for improved conditions of service within the department

· R131 000 in 2013/14, R176 000 in 2014/15 and R229 000 in 2015/16 for Die Afrikaanse Taalmuseum for improved conditions of service

· R1 million in 2013/14, R1.4 million in 2014/15 and R1.8 million in 2015/16 for the National Museum Bloemfontein for improved conditions of service

· R269 000 in 2013/14, R361 000 in 2014/15 and R471 000 in 2015/16 for the Nelson Mandela National Museum for improved conditions of service

· R325 000 in 2013/14, R437 000 in 2014/15 and R569 000 in 2015/16 for the War Museum of the Boer Republic for improved conditions of service

· R400 000 in 2014/15 and R700 000 in 2015/16 in reprioritisations to the community library services conditional grant from the Department of Basic Education’s school infrastructure backlogs grant due to poor spending in the latter

· R7 million in 2013/14 for the 2014 Africa Nations Championship.

Infrastructure spending is another driver of expenditure over the medium term. A number of projects will be completed over the medium term at an estimated cost of R645 million.

It should also be noted that Cabinet approved budget reductions of R32.3 million over the medium term have been implemented across programmes.


3.1.3 Programme Analysis

Table 1: Programme allocations

Programme

Budget

Nominal Rand change

Real Rand change

Nominal % change

Real % change

R million

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2012/13-2013/14

2012/13-2013/14

Programme 1: Administration

212.7

234.0

247.4

260.0

21.3

8.9

10.01 per cent

4.18 per cent

Programme 2: Performing Arts

641.7

719.1

735.1

788.1

77.4

39.3

12.06 per cent

6.12 per cent

Programme 3: National Language Services

112.2

123.7

132.4

138.9

11.5

4.9

10.25 per cent

4.40 per cent

Programme 4: Cultural Development

158.9

221.9

275.2

287.9

63.0

51.2

39.65 per cent

32.24 per cent

Programme 5: Heritage Promotion

745.2

834.6

885.6

927.2

89.4

45.1

12.00 per cent

6.06 per cent

Programme 6: National Archives and Library Services

801.7

781.5

1 234.5

1 573.4

- 20.2

- 61.6

-2.52 per cent

-7.69 per cent

TOTAL

2 672.4

2 914.8

3 528.1

3 975.4

242.4

87.8

9.07 per cent

3.29 per cent

Figure 1: Comparative analysis of 2012/13 and 2013/14 budget allocations per programme

A. Administration

The purpose of this programme is to provide leadership, management and support functions of the Department. The budget allocation for Programme 1 reflects a nominal percentage change of 10.1 per cent for the 2013/14 financial year. However, the real percentage change is 4.2 per cent over the same period. According to the anticipated audit outcomes issued by the Auditor-General (AG) in February 2013, DAC’s overall vacancy rate stood at 11.4 per cent, while the vacancy rate at Senior Management Service (SMS) level was 21.5 per cent.

Due to the social cohesion summit, spending on consultants increased considerably in the 2012/13 financial year. During this period, the Department used four consulting companies to provide the following services:

· ICT consulting services;

· Internal audit services; and

· Marketing and public relations for the social cohesion summit.

B. Performing Arts

This programme has five sub-programmes:

· 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 arts centres and individuals.

· National Arts Council – transfers funds to the 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 South Africa ’s film and video industry.

· Capital Works of Performing Arts Institutions – funds and administers capital grants to playhouses for maintenance and other capital projects.

Transfers to cultural institutions are the main function of this programme. Programme expenditure increased from R490.8 million in 2009/10 to R614.7 million in 2012/13, at an average annual rate of 9.3 per cent. Expenditure in this programme is expected to increase to R788.1 million over the medium term, at an average annual rate of 7.1 per cent. The spending focus over the medium term is mainstreaming the role of the sector in economic and social development through the implementation of the MGE strategy as well as developing the local film industry through the National Film and Video Foundation sub-programme.

The Department will reduce spending by R4.9 million over the medium term as part of the Cabinet approved reductions. These reductions will be effected in spending transfers to the National Arts Council and The Playhouse Company. Further, it is important to note that R17.7 million is also reprioritised in this period from this programme to the Administration programme to centralise IT and bursary services.

According to the ENE, spending on transfers to households within the sub-programme Promotion of Performing Arts decreased from 2009/10 to 2012/13 as the rollout of the MGE projects was slower than expected.

C. National Language Services

This programme exists to promote the official languages of South Africa and enhance the linguistic diversity of the country. Building capacity in language practice bursaries and implementing language development projects will constitute the spending focus over the medium term. Therefore, 62.8 per cent of the programme’s budget over the medium term is transferred to the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) as a contribution to operations and 11.8 per cent is transferred to households for bursaries to students of language practice.

Transfers to households are expected to grow substantially over the medium term as the number of bursaries awarded is expected to grow. A total of 840 bursaries are expected to be awarded over this period – double the amount of bursaries awarded between 2009/10 and 2012/13.

D. Cultural Development

The main purpose of this programme is to develop South African arts and culture. Over the medium term, as mentioned earlier, the spending focus will be on the implementation of the MGE strategy and providing financial support to cultural industries and events. Projects such as the annual Edinburgh International Festival, the Tunisian Film Festival and the French-South African seasons in 2013/214 contributes to increased spending on travel and subsistence over the medium term. Four consulting companies were used in 2012/13 for the French-South African seasons and for the celebration of Tanzania ’s liberation.

As part of Cabinet’s approved budget reductions, DAC has reduced spending by R18.2 million in the Cultural Development sub-programme. These reductions are effected in spending on goods and services due to poor spending on funding allocated for MGE strategy projects.

E. Heritage Promotion

This programme provides policy, legislation and strategic direction for identifying, conserving and promoting cultural heritage. The bulk of this programme’s expenditure and over the medium term will focus on making transfers to heritage institutions for operations and capital works. Capital works at museums contribute to the bulk of this programme’s expenditure in 2012/13 as well as over the medium term. Further, spending on heritage study bursaries is expected to increase in this period in order for this programme to increase the number of bursaries awarded yearly from 31 in 2011/12 to 125 by 2015/16.

It is of importance to note that as part of Cabinet’s approved budget reductions, DAC has reduced spending by R1 million from goods and services and R5 million over the medium term from transfers to Robben Island Museum .

F. National Archives and Library Services

The function of this programme is to facilitate full and open access to the archival and information resources of South Africa . Through the community library services conditional grant (CLSG), the spending focus over the medium term will be on providing community library services. Thus, the bulk of the spending in this programme over the medium term goes towards transfers to provinces to allow them to build and upgrade libraries, hire personnel and purchase library materials. Further, R1.1 billion is reprioritised from the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) schools infrastructure backlog grant to the CLSG. This is to ensure accelerate the provision of community library services and also to provide for the function shift of library services from municipalities to provinces.

It is important to note that over the medium term, R4 million is reprioritised from sub-programmes within this programme to the Administration programme to centralise IT services.

4. Recommendations

The Committee welcomes the APP and 2013/14 budget of the Department of Arts and Culture. The committee further recommends that the Minister of Arts and Culture should ensure the following:

§ The Department of Arts and Culture to develop a scientific formula for the disbursement of the subsidy to its entities;

§ Additional funding to be considered for the William Humphreys Art Gallery ;

§ The Department of Arts and Culture to prioritise the establishment of flagships in the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal provinces and develop shared services in these provinces;

§ More governance monitoring to be provided to departmental entities;

§ Reviewing the funding model for the previously disadvantaged institutions/entities in order to ensure that they can develop optimally; and

§ The Department of Arts and Culture to reduce its reliance on consultants.

6. Conclusion

The Portfolio Committee congratulates the Department on its achievements. The Committee recommends that the House adopts the Budget Vote of the Department of Arts and Culture.

Report to be considered

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