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18 May 2005

Madam Speaker
Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Honourable Members
Ladies and Gentlemen
In his last letter, written before he was murdered in 1961 Patrice Lumumba wrote:

“Africa will write its own history, and it will be, to the north and to the south of the Sahara, a history of glory and dignity”.

Powerful words, written by a man who believed, absolutely, in the freedom and dignity of the African continent. Those words written by Lumumba, the Congo’s first and only democratically elected head of government, pose a challenge: What are we as the peoples of a continent grappling with a past stained by colonial exploitation, the slave trade, apartheid and racism, doing to bring about the bright future he predicted?

For the first time in the modern history of South Africa, we have the good fortune to have experienced a decade without political upheaval. Freedom and democracy have brought the people of our country the rich dividend of peace! Prosperity and its attainment will only be possible in an environment of peace and stability. South Africa has achieved that during this first decade of freedom, as the custodian of the collective social memory of South Africans, the Department of Arts and Culture has striven to rise to Lumumba’s challenge by elaborating and pursuing policy options that can yoke the immense wealth that lies hidden in Africa’s arts and her peoples’ diverse culture.

The cultural industries were one of the critical areas prioritised by the national government to drive growth as part of our reform strategy in 2004. The decline of the primary sector, concentrated in mining and the cultivation of food, and of the industrial secondary sector, underscores the importance of the cultural industries. We have always had cultural resources in abundance. Strategy must now translate them into wealth creating resources.

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), established in 1999, is one of the many examples demonstrating government’s commitment to creating this capacity in South Africa’s cultural industries. This necessarily entailed the transfer of resources to the previously un-resourced and under-resourced.

2004 is the year during which South African film came of age. During these past twelve months we have seen South African films scoop up awards at top film festivals in Europe, North America, India and on the African continent. Besides two Oscar nominations, South African films received recognition at the most prestigious festivals, testimony not only of our talent, but also to the success of our strategy of judiciously and efficiently deploying the financial and other resources mobilised by the Department of Arts and Culture.

Since its founding, the NFVF interrogated the structure of the film industry, bringing about appropriate interventions by the state. The NFVF has participated in ICASA’s Enquiry into local content targets for broadcasting, in the Content Industries Strategy and in Provincial initiatives to develop and grow the film and video industry throughout the country. We are convinced that it is possible to shift the sector into a more rapid growth phase.

The strategic initiatives undertaken by the NFVF highlight the cross-cutting sectoral character of the film and video industry. They include the establishment of the Sectoral Information System; Demand Simulation and Audience Development; and the development of local content. They also cover the global positioning of the SA film industry, capital formation and facilities development.

Every industry is dependent on adequate human capital. The NFVF has developed programmes that address empowerment, talent incubation and production funding.

We hope soon to be able to announce training programmes, cooperation agreements and training workshops with a number of national film constituencies with whom South Africa has into cultural agreements.

In carrying out its mandate the NFVF has delivered on the key national priorities: equity, redress and job creation by nurturing our film-makers’ skills and promoting South African cinema abroad. I note too that the NFVF is one of the first public institutions to proactively adopt a progressive language policy. After the initial two, many more indigenous language films will be funded by the NFVF, satisfying the demand for local content while promoting South Africa’s languages. In response to the demand to enhance institutional capacity, we will be reviewing the NFVF’s budget, in line with the requirements of the PFMA, this year.

South Africa will host a Summit of African film-makers as our programme’s contribution to NEPAD. The African Union (AU) plans expanding the Inter-African Film Distribution Consortium, the Inter-African Film Production Consortium, as well the Inter-African Film Development Fund. Hopefully the summit will:

* Provide a Platform for African film professionals to dialogue about the state of African cinema within the context of the global economic order and global cultural industries;
* Evaluate successes and challenges and interrogate the performance of African countries against international benchmarks and conventions;
* Formulate recommendations towards the drafting and adoption of an African convention on audio-visual collaboration to present to the meeting of the African Cultural Ministers;

We consider the holding of this summit an important contribution to the development of film on the African continent that will strengthen ties amongst African film-makers and lead to increased co-productions among film-makers on the continent. In the coming months, officials from DAC will be working closely with the NFVF and film-makers from across the continent to establish an organizing committee to prepare for the summit. This will result in more films from South Africa being seen in neighbouring countries and further a-field, but will likewise bring more films by African film-makers onto South African screens. Such mutual enjoyment of each others products is a dimension of the regeneration of Africa and the celebration of our continental heritage.

African, including South African, film will never really know success until a critical mass of Africans has access to the cinema and to films. Ours is a continent that is largely non-electrified, with the majority of its people still living in villages. The Inter-African film agencies referred to earlier will have to devise creative ways of harnessing cheaper, but state of the art technology that makes it possible to bring cinema to thousands at affordable admissions or even free.

I therefore welcome and applaud the “Shout Africa” initiative that plans to implement such a strategy in South Africa’s rural areas and Black urban neighbourhoods.

In September 2004 and in April 2005 the Ministry of Arts and Culture took to the imbizo trail, covering seven of our nine provinces. The message from the grassroots was that though there are still immense challenges, the policies government is pursuing are sound. The demands placed on our department were that we invest in the development of the arts and culture at community level by:

* Physical and social infra-structure development.
* Improving the organizational capacity of community based cultural bodies;
* Providing training for members of the community; and
* Identifying and developing local heritage for preservation.

My Ministry rolled out and completed the Chief Albert Luthuli Legacy project last August. We will be launching a number of national and provincial heritage projects, beginning in September of this year.

Chairperson,

The total allocation for DAC is smaller than the budget for the 2004/2005 financial year. We expect it will increase over the remaining Medium Term Expenditure Framework years.

Capital transfers for the Freedom Park project have been revised, and we now more accurate projected expenditures for the project. Its first phase, the provision of basic infrastructure and the development of the garden of remembrance, was completed in March 2004. The second phase will begin in October 2005, with the building of a museum and interpretation centre.

A large proportion of the Department’s budget is dedicated to supporting and developing institutional infrastructure in order to showcase, restore and preserve our heritage for future generations.

The programme Arts and Culture in Society funds performing arts institutions, orchestras, the National Arts Council and the Promotion of Arts and Culture in South Africa sub-programme. We funded the establishment of two large instrumental ensembles – one in Cape Town, the other in Johannesburg - during 2004/05. A music training programme directed at township youth in Gauteng also received a grant towards its work.

The Department funds six playhouses. In the past year the Department contributed an amount of R89.140 million towards the running of these institutions.

* The performing arts institutions will receive a budget of just over R97.685 million: The combined budget for the declared cultural institutions will be over R237 million.
* The National Arts Council sees a budget increase to R47.9 million this year;
* PanSALB will receive R26.2 million;
* The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) gets R24.609 million;
* The National Heritage Council (NHC) will receive R17.4 million; and
* The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) will get R24.298 million.

We are conducting a feasibility study into the infrastructure requirements for the archiving of electronic documentation. We will be refurbishing core infrastructure at the National Archives to ensure alignment with international standards while being alert to the security required to protect our holdings.

Development agencies and the statutory bodies were established over the last ten years to transform and redress the injustices of the past. Over the past ten years there has been a steep increase in the budgets for these institutions. That trend continues this year.

In September 2004 I performed an important act of restitution, unveiling one of the largest collections of Modern African Literature in the world, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Pmbg. The Centre of African Literary Studies at that university will now become one of the primary sites for the study of modern African literature. This is one of many heritage projects to restore to the African continent scholarly work done by Africans and about Africans, also to restore to Africa and its people those aspects of our continent’s rich past which have been lost to us. The Mali archivists, participating in the project for the preservation of the Timbuktu Manuscripts, are back in South Africa to complete their final training session. Our government has made a commitment to rescuing the Timbuktu manuscripts and ensuring that they are restored and the information they contain preserved for posterity. There will be other projects, some from within our borders that we shall be embarking on. We trust that our scholars and out universities will be prepared to play a role in their realization. The Department of Arts and Culture is already cooperating with a number of tertiary institutions in our endeavours to preserve our cultural treasures. We are also metaphorically excavating what has been lost or misplaced.

The National Library of South Africa is this nation’s treasure house of the published materials. It is a centre of excellence providing access to its immensely valuable resources to society at large. It facilitates the provision of knowledge and information to all those who are literate. The National Library Act 92 of 1998 provides for the National Library to collect, record preserve and make available to the South African public materials, including national heritage documentation, published in print and other forms.

I was very proud to preside over the sod-turning at the new site for our National Library in Pretoria on 3rd December 2004. The Department of Arts and Culture is erecting a R160-million building to house the National Library of South Africa on that site. The project will be executed by the Department of Public Works. There will be approximately 33 000 usable square metres of space for its book collections, reading rooms and other facilities currently scattered in various premises around this city. The building will provide approximately 1 800 seats for library users, a marked improvement on 130 users we can presently accommodate. The building will add a new and exciting dimension to the capital of South Africa, revitalising the central business district and providing a much-needed investment of capital, human resources and future activity. The site will become part of the Government Boulevard, linking the city centre with the Union Buildings. Its central location will benefit the many users who rely on public transport.

One of our World Heritage Sites, the Robben Island Museum (RIM), will receive an additional once-off allocation of R35.5 million, to invest in more effective management, maintenance and refurbishment of this important national asset. Robben Island Museum, as one of the defining symbols of our democracy, is perhaps the premier World Heritage site in South Africa. A new CEO was recently appointed. We are confident he will install systems consistent with its status as a World Heritage Site.

We have submitted Vredo Fort Dome in Bloemfontein for consideration and inclusion in the World Heritage register. If accepted, this will bring the number of South African natural sites on the World heritage list to 7. Two additional sites, Mokapane’s valley in Limpopo and Taung in the North-west were also submitted for consideration as extensions of the cradle of human kind.

I have set up a panel of practitioners that will assist in the development of a national strategy for the collection, preservation and promotion of living heritage in South Africa. A national consultative workshop, where legislators, managers, practitioners and experts in various aspects of Living Heritage will discuss a national framework for the collection, preservation and promotion of living heritage, is planned for heritage month in September. We hope to emerge from that with a Living Heritage Policy to regulate the documentation, protection and promotion of Living Heritage.

Many archival functions have been devolved to the provinces. We are creating provincial heritage resource agencies to capacitate this level of government. Provincial heritage resource agencies in particular will assist to clearing the backlog of heritage permit applications and thereby enhance service delivery.

Though some have chosen to make it a party political issue, the procedures for executing geographical name changes are set out in legislation that enjoyed the overwhelming support of all the parties represented in Parliament. The South African Geographic Names Council (SAGNC) is charged with elaborating the policies and principles for naming places in South Africa. SAGNC is an advisory body that makes recommendations to the Minister regarding the transformation and standardization of geographical names.

Those who appear to be caught up in the hysteria about the name for Pretoria would do well to remember that many of the places involved had indigenous African names before the 19th century. When new names were given to them by White authorities, no one was consulted. In many instances Africans continued to use the indigenous names. That most of our White compatriots did not know, were unaware of, or chose to ignore these place names is actually irrelevant.

The language research and development centres are the implementation agencies of our National Language Policy. In 2004/5 financial year we spent R9 million establishing nine centres, hosted primarily at tertiary education institutions, to develop our indigenous languages. This financial year we will expand the capacity of these centres by appointing additional personnel to carry out various projects.

During the 2004/5 financial year the Department spent over R10 million rolling out the Telephone Interpreting Service for South Africa (TISSA). The project currently employs about 60 full-time personnel .This number is set to increase by the middle of 2005. They include interpreters, project managers and call centre operators. The TISSA Project will make South Africa a truly functional multilingual country, by focusing on verbal communication, the most common form of communication at all spheres of human interaction.

R 2 million has been dedicated to a pilot project aimed at developing literature in indigenous African languages. We hope to identify and nurture new talent by creating an annual literary prize for new creative work in the indigenous languages, and we will also offer an annual prize for established writers in indigenous languages. My Ministry will work with writers associations across the country in pursuance of this project. About R1 million has been set aside to stage a national literature exhibition. Lifetime achievers will be identified and awarded prizes in recognition of their work promoting literature in any one of the eleven official languages. The language, research and development centres, will facilitate the publishing of new material and in the translation of existing literature into other languages. We have budgeted R250 000 for each of these centres.

On the 5th of March 2005, at the nomination of WriteAssociates, Professor Mazisi Raymond Kunene was awarded the honorific title of South Africa’s Poet Laureate at a Gala Dinner in Durban. South Africa has now formally adopted the institution of poet laureate, and we can expect to see many another gifted poet elevated to that status in the future.

Honourable members,

We will reconstitute the board for the National Library of South Africa Board this financial year. BLINDLIB received a special grant of R500, 000 from the Department to initiate a library management system and to invest in an online catalogue for blind people to access the library’s holdings. An additional amount of R400, 000 was granted to BLIND SA to effect multilingualism and cultural transformation.

To promote the culture of reading and writing in all languages among youth, the Department of Arts and Culture has established book clubs. The department appoints local co-coordinators and establishes the youth book clubs. Our pilot projects are in 13 community arts centres, located in two nodal areas, Mdantsane and the OR Tambo municipality.

The Department is utilizing community arts centres as focal points where arts and culture can make an impact at the local level and improve service delivery to our communities. There are about eight arts centres in the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme nodes; and four in the Urban Renewal Programme nodes.

The Dumile Feni retrospective mounted at the Johannesburg Gallery was surely one of the highlights of the arts calendar for 2005. Later this year we will be exhibiting the works of South African artists that were purchased by a number of foreign diplomats during the 1970s and ‘80s. Owing to the efforts of a handful of dedicated individuals, supported by the DAC through a grant, these art works are being repatriated to South Africa. We plan to have them tour the country, before finding a permanent space for them in one of our urban galleries. The homeward trek of a number of South African artists who went into exile during the 1960s, the ‘70s and 80’s, will receive a boost when we stage “The Exile’s Re-initiation Concert”, featuring a number of former exiles later during the course of this year.

The Department has allocated in excess of R3 million towards its Language Bursary Scheme. In 2004, twenty-six graduates received funding to complete their post-graduate programmes. This scheme will improve the pool of indigenous language professionals and encourage South Africans to take up the study of language as a career.

The Investing in Culture Programme has strategically supported community development and empowerment projects in a number of sub-sectors: among them Craft, Film & Video, Design, Archives, Research and Development (Archival Paper), Heritage and Arts in Society. The funding allocation per province is as follows:

* Gauteng R3m.
* Eastern Cape R12.4m;
* Western Cape R5.3m;
* Northern Cape R3m
* Limpopo R4m;
* Mpumalanga R3.4m;
* Free state R800 000;
* North West R3.7m;
* KwaZulu Natal R8.1m.

The allocations total R43.7m

These projects are the first steps the Department is taking to deliver on Government’s undertaking to create sustainable jobs, empower and train people, transfer skills and alleviate poverty.

* 134 projects have been funded to date;
* 7 000 new jobs have been created; and
* Approximately 120 SMMEs have been established.

We will be innovative in bridging the gaps between the first and second economies, so as to realize the full potential of the arts and culture’s contribution to the economy of South Africa. To achieve this we will map the activities in both economies to gain a fuller understanding of both. South Africa and the United Kingdom, where a similar project was successfully implemented, will collaborate in that study.

In partnership with the Department of Correctional Services, we are currently running a pilot arts programme with four prisons. That programme is due for expansion and we will have a public launch later this year. A well known Cape Theatre director has approached me with the interesting idea of theatre in prison. I will respond to that in due course once the security implications of such a bold move have been unpacked.

On 3 December 2005, International Disability Day, we will celebrate the creative abilities of artists with disabilities.

In partnership with the Department of Education we will be implementing a project: “A Flag in Every School”, to promote our national symbols.

We hosted a Children’s Art Festival that provided space for young artists to express their talents at the beginning of the year.

If South Africa is taking its rightful place on the world stage, some of that is owed to South African arts.

South Africa’s role in drafting the Convention on Protection of the Cultural Diversity Contents and Artistic Expressions at UNESCO has duly been recognized by the election of Professor Adbel-Kader Asmal, former Minister of Education, as chairperson of the meetings debating this important convention. South Africa has championed the voice of Africa and has acted in tandem with other developing countries during these negotiations. A revised draft of the Convention will be tabled for adoption at the UN General Assembly in October this year.

The Department of Arts and Culture in partnership with UNESCO Commission of South Africa will be hosting the Africa and the Diaspora Conference on Cultural Diversity and the Protection of Social Cohesion for Sustainable Development during the first quarter of 2006.

Our international relations portfolio maintains numerous cultural agreements that have facilitated exchanges between South Africa and other countries. They have offered us opportunities to showcase South African talent in these countries, establish dialogue between our creative communities and have enriched us greatly. I will visit Ghana, Mali, Gabon, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Benin, Greece and Norway to sign cultural agreements with each of these countries this year.

We have been participating in the AICHI World Expo in Japan since April. The South African stand is using the opportunity to promote investment through culture. The India-Brazil-South Africa Trilateral Ministerial Commission kicks off with a music and dance festival in November in Brazil. That will followed by a meeting on the audiovisual in India. South Africa will host a conference on the Indigenous Knowledge Systems at the beginning of 2006.

South Africa will be hosting the 29th session of the World Heritage Committee in Durban during July this year. As host, we are expected to articulate the strategic issues pertaining to heritage development in Africa and take a central role in the development of a global strategy that will, amongst others, maximize the potential of heritage to contribute to sustainable development.

The DAC, in partnership with our Namibian counterparts, will take the lead in a SADC Ministerial Cultural Colloquium in Windhoek in October 2005.

In her novel, Temple of my Familiar, one of Alice Walker’s characters cautions another:

"Keep in mind always the present you are constructing. It should be the future that you want”.

This budget presented today is for the development of the arts, culture and heritage sector for today and for future generations. It speaks to our desire to preserve, foster and develop culture while creating a sector that is vibrant and dynamic, in a South Africa that truly belongs to all of its people.

Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
18 May 2005