National Arts Council & Iziko Museums on Strategic Plans 2013; Pan South African Language Board: board member recommendations

Meeting report

Introduction
Ms T Nwamitwa-Shilubana (ANC) (Acting Chairperson) stated that the presenters would only have 20 minutes to present. Ms Nwamitwa-Shilubana was Acting Chairperson as the Chairperson was to arrive during the meeting.

Presentation by the National Arts Council
Mrs Angie Mkwetla, Chairperson: National Arts Council (NAC) said she would then only give the highlights.

Mrs Mkwetla said that the policy mandate as per the White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage was to:

Distribute public funds to artists, cultural institutions, non-government organisations (NGOs) and community benefit organisations (CBOs) to promote the creation, teaching and dissemination of literature, oral history and storytelling, music, dance, theatre, musical theatre, opera, photography, design, visual art and craft which fully reflect the country’s diversity.

Provide study bursaries for study in the fields of arts and culture, to practitioners, administrators and educators.

Carry out research, especially regarding policy linked to its mandate and also execute investigations and research at the request of the Minister

Mrs Mkwetla said the NAC had been established by the National Arts Council Act (No. 56 of 1997) as amended by the Cultural Laws Amendment Acts and was a Schedule 3 A public entity in terms of the Public Finance Management Act (No. 1 of 1999) (PFMA). It was wholly funded by an annual budget allocation from DAC, of which 75% in terms of the Act must be distributed in grants in support of the arts.

There had been no changes to the objectives and mandates. There had been, however, a focus on the need ‘to address historical imbalances in the provision of infrastructure for the promotion of the arts’. The Council had taken a conscious decision that the legacy that it left was to make a change on the way funding was dispersed.  There had also been a focus on ‘promoting and facilitating national and international liaison between individuals and institutions in respect of the arts’. This had meant an active move to no longer work in silos.  The NAC was also saddened to have lost various members over the past year or so.

Mrs Mkwetla said that the NAC Strategic Objectives: 2012 – 2016 were:

Contributing to redress and transformation in the arts.

Developing an effective funding model that supports the NAC in achieving its mandate.

Fulfilling the full mandate of the NAC.

Advocating the benefits of the Arts and the work of the NAC amongst critical stakeholders to create partnerships and unlock new resources for the arts.

Creating programmes in support of new areas of work including youth development and audience development, participation and appreciation.

The Minister had said that arts needed to be a part of Mzansi’s Golden Economy; she had argued this could only be done if artists begun to think like business people. They needed to think about how to make their ‘pot grow bigger’; thus entrepreneurial growth was important to the NAC.

Mrs Mkwetla presented on the organisational structure. The NAC was in the process of appointing a new CEO as the current one was in the process of moving to the Department. The NAC was in the process of finalising negotiations with the new CEO who would start in July.  She also noted there had been problems with the supply chain management and there were moves to appoint a supply chain manager to remedy the problem.

She outlined how the programmes had been separated. The programmes included Arts Development , Human Resources (HR), Finance & Information Technology (IT), Research and Communication & Public Relations (PR). The communication programme was important, as it was a means of telling the wider public what the work being done was and why things were being done that way. It allowed for a way to keep stakeholders informed.

Mrs Mkwetla spoke to the new funding model saying that the Council of the NAC had approved a new funding model as a critical driver of the new priorities. The model was designed to be:

An equity based funding model

Responsive to the needs and life cycle stage of artists and arts organisations

Able to empower women, youth and people with disabilities

She then showed a diagram that showed the beneficiary profile for the funding. It showed that 50% went to Emerging Artists & Organisations (Medium term – multi-year funding), 30% went to Intermediate Phase -Intermediate or mid-career artists and organisations (Medium term - multi-year funding) and 20% to those in the established Phase- Established artists and organisations (Shorter term funding).

In terms of performance against objectives in terms of the priority of ‘Contributing to redress and transformation in the arts’ the highlights included:

The continued support of redressing the historical underfunding of particular provinces; 223 grants were made to beneficiaries in the Eastern Cape, Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West Province and Northern Cape.

220 grants had been made to organisations that are steered by women as well as to individual women in the arts.

231 grants had been made to young people and organisations led by the youth.

Seven grants had been made to organisations in support of people with disabilities.

Eight projects were to be initiated to build arts management capacity in various sectors and across the sector as a whole.

In terms of the priority of developing an effective funding model the highlights included:

The NAC funding model was successfully reviewed in consultation with the arts community through eight workshops held across the country.

The work of the funding model was clearly demonstrated in the grant funding awards.

In terms of the priority of fulfilling the mandate of the NAC the highlights included:

The France-South Africa Seasons project had proved to be a successful vehicle for international exchange and partnerships between the NAC, stakeholders and government departments and public entities such as the Department, the National Film and Video Foundation and the Department of Tourism.

Matters that impacted on the work of the NAC and the Provincial Arts and Culture Councils were discussed at MinMEC and at a workshop attended by various stakeholders and presented at the intergovernmental structures of the Technical Implementation Committee (TIC) comprising the Director General of the Department and the provincial heads of the Department.

In terms of the priority of advocating the benefits of the arts and creating partnerships the highlights included:

Advocating for the arts, consideration, interaction and collaboration were initiated in the year under review with provincial stakeholders. This was done through regular interactions, information sharing and the initiation of partnership projects.

Communication about the work of the NAC and the value of the arts were also substantively up scaled with the introduction of the NAC newsletter, various press releases and partnerships with key niche publications in the arts.

Social media platforms such as Facebook had been also successfully utilised to communicate with the arts sector about relevant matters.

In terms of the priority of the creation of programmes in support of young people and audience development the highlights included:

The review of the funding model had created significant opportunities for young people to access grant funding from the NAC.

The France-South Africa Seasons programme had created an ideal platform for youth exchange projects & developing new audiences for South African work.

The NAC grant funding for 2012/13 had three grant categories

Projects

Local & international bursaries

Arts Organisation Support Funding

She said that 580 individuals and arts organisations supported. She stated that it was a strict rule that bursaries would not be given for people to study something abroad that could be studied within the country and the ‘pie was small’.

Mrs Mkwetla outlined funding by grant type showing that arts organisations got the most with 31% and orchestra funding coming next with 24% funding. Emergency funding was at 0%.  She outlined the funding by province showing that Western Cape and Gauteng were still high but the numbers for other provinces were rising.

In terms of the service delivery environment that the amount that was applied for far outweighed the funds available. The disciplines that were funded included crafts, dance and choreography, literature, multi-discipline, music and opera, theatre and musical and visual arts.  She said there was a need to redistribute resources, particularly to historically underfunded provinces and challenges pertaining to:

The funding and functionality of Provincial Arts and Culture Councils in some provinces

Low levels of applications in some provinces

She argued that in terms of the work done and the work that needed to be funded the amount given to the NAC was minuscule. She showed how the historic underfunding of the NAC benchmarked against other Department funding agencies. She said that in 2011/12 the NAC had made grants to 374 organisations where as the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLTD) made grants to the value of R459 million to 257 organisations (more funding to less organisations). (See slide 21)

She requested that the Members read the slides pertaining to performance indicators in their own time as the Acting Chairperson had stated that the presentation could only be for 20 minutes.

Mr Mohau Mphomela, NAC Deputy Chairperson, spoke about the budget saying that it had barely changed over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). He wanted to emphasise that the NAC had not been complaining as there had been some changes within the NAC but now the NAC urged the Department to have more trust, as it was confident of its funding model.

He covered the 2013/14 budget overview by category showing that the majority went to transfers with the next biggest portion going to orchestras. He also gave a brief look at the comparative analysis by category.

Mrs Mkwetla said that in terms of matters impacting on the NAC the matter of Downtown Studios was being dealt with. The transfer had been approved by the Minister in the 4^th quarter of 2012/13. Guidance was being awaited from National Treasury with regard to the mechanism of transfer. The building and the assets had been integrated into the Annual Financial Statements of the NAC as per the agreed treatment with the Auditor-General (AG). The assets would accordingly be audited by the AG in the 2012/13 regulatory audit.

The NAC had received an adverse audit finding in 2010/11 and a qualified audit opinion in 2011/12. The qualification had been due to material misstatements in the Annual Financial Statements, non-compliance with the PFMA and Treasury Regulations and non-compliance with the Generally Recognised Accounting Practice (GRAP) accounting standards (this had been mainly due to the Downtown Studios issue). For the 2012/13 Annual Financial Statements, quality assurance has been conducted by the NAC’s internal auditors, the misstatements from prior years have been corrected, the Supply Chain Management (SCM) environment had been improved through a review of policy and procedure, and the appointment of an SCM officer and the issue of non-adherence to GRAP standards resolved.

Discussion
Forms for funding
The Acting Chairperson asked if people applying for funding able to understand the forms. There had been a great deal of talk about the strict regulations of funding but were people able to engage with the forms? There had been legislation passed that stated that Departments needed to utilise three languages.

Mr Mphomela replied that people were starting to apply to the NAC as it was slowly no longer being seen as for the elite few and the NAC was giving support in terms of applying.

Outreach to rural areas
The Acting Chairperson asked if the NAC had reached the most rural areas? It seemed that often outreach done by entities only reached to semi-rural areas.

Mr S Ntapane (UDM) said before 1994 rural people had been neglected and it seemed the trend was continued. The Committee was concerned that the NAC was not visible enough in these areas. Was NAC really known by rural people?

Mrs Mkwetla replied there had been provincial roadshows but there needed to be a breakdown of what areas had been visited so that the Council made sure the rural areas were reached.

Mr Mphomela replied that when the Council had come on board it had begun to look at institutions that had created a ‘culture of dependency’ on the NAC. These were mainly white institutions that had become very good at applying for funding. The Council had thus made provisions to streamline the process. There had been road shows and making people aware of the NAC. The road shows were more effective as people could be reached in their own areas. Even within Gauteng the funding had been concentrated in Johannesburg in predominantly white-run institutions. In the provinces there were fewer applications coming out but there was outreach in terms of road shows and awareness campaigns.

Youth
The Acting Chairperson argued that the youth seemed to come from urban areas - were youth in more rural areas part of the youth outreach and were they being given from support and funding?

Mr Ntapane asked if the youth who had been funded were from rural areas.

Mr Mphomela replied that even the youth from urban areas who had been funded were centred on certain areas such as Johannesburg within elite spaces. There had been youth within townships who had not received funding and there was a still a need to reach out to them

Bias towards Gauteng
Mr Ntapane was not convinced with the reason as to why Gauteng got such a large portion of funding as it was one of the smallest provinces. He wondered why the bias was towards Gauteng. Was the NAC known in provinces where there were low levels of applications?

Meetings
The Acting Chairperson asked why there had been so many meetings? Was this due to challenges within the NAC?

Bursaries
The Acting Chairperson asked why some people (one person was mentioned in particular) had received far more funding than other candidates? What was the reason for this?

The Acting Chairperson said that this amount that had been given to this scholar had been too high.

Audit fees
The Acting Chairperson said that the amount that had been spent on audit fees was high and an internal audit would reduce costs.

Opportunities
Ms F Mushwana (ANC) asked if it would have been better stated that opportunities were given to ‘people from all walks of life’ as opposed to the mandate saying that it gave opportunities for ‘persons’. This allowed for a wider reach.

Provincial representatives
Ms Mushwana asked why there were seven provincial representatives but nine provinces.

Grants
Ms Mushwana asked if the grants that had been given could be analysed in terms of the amounts given in each grant.

Ms L Moss (ANC) asked what criteria were applied for the distribution of grants. This would allow people to know what they needed in order to be awarded a grant. When National Lottery had come to present a few years ago they had stated what their criteria was in terms of the awarding of grants.

Mr Ntapane asked how grant recipients had been identified and where were the women who had been given grants?

Mrs Mkwetla replied that the NAC had panels that gave advice on how to give grants and there were even analyses by race and gender.

Funding according to discipline
Ms Mushwana urged that people be given equal opportunities and that it should not only be based on their level of education. She felt people did not need to be educated to dance.

Mrs Mkwetla replied that there would be given an analysis of the criteria for giving to certain disciplines.

Budget
Ms Mushwana asked if there were percentages that guided the budget?

Beneficiary criteria
Ms H van Schalkwyk (DA) asked for an indication of what type of criteria was used to decide what beneficiaries were assisted and who decided on these criteria?

Festival funding
Ms Van Schalkwyk asked what festivals were funded?

Ms Moss said that the festivals had been in the same provinces year after year which allowed some provinces to be empowered and not others. These other provinces then lost hope.

Mrs Mkwetla replied that the analysis of the festivals would be given as well as how much was given to each festival.

Mr Mphomela replied that the NAC had stated it would no longer be funding festivals but it had had some funding left over. It had been decided that the amount needed by festivals was too big for the NAC.

Down Town Studios
Ms Van Schalkwyk asked what financial obligations (and others) would the NAC have towards the Downtown Studios?

Mr D Mavunda (ANC) said that these issues always affected the NAC’s audit and should be a concern. There was a need to relay the latest developments so that the matter could be resolved.  He also wanted to know what strategies were in place to deal with issues?

Mr N van Den Berg (DA) said that this is issue was ‘a wild goose chase’.

Mrs Mkwetla replied that the NAC had been working with the Department in terms of Downtown Studios. Once it was transferred then it would be governed as the NAC was governed and the NAC would no longer have any obligations. Downtown had its own governing body that was working with the NAC in order to transfer.

Monitoring and evaluation
Ms H Msweli (IFP) asked if the NAC had a strategy in place for monitoring and evaluation so that funded organisations were held accountable?

Mandate
Mr Van Den Berg asked how the NAC how they planned to ‘to promote the appreciation, understanding and enjoyment of the arts’ and ‘to foster the expression of a national identity and consciousness by means of the arts.’  This was quite the mandate.

Promotion of the NAC
Mr Van Den Berg stated that the NAC was not very well known, as it was bad at promoting itself.  He said the standard for promotion (12 radio interviews in one year) was not good enough. There were many avenues such as community radio and the SABC, which came in a variety of languages. The product that was given to the people was so good but people did not know about it. He did not want to accuse the NAC of being ‘snobs’ and wanting to deal with only a few of the people. He argued that unless there was promotion of the arts and the various entities within more spaces then the Mzansi Golden Economy would not go anywhere.  There was a great need for the product that the NAC produced.

Mr Mphomela replied that road shows and awareness campaigns were more effective for the NAC than being on the radio as people could be aided in their own languages. The roadshows allowed for the NAC to properly engage with people within their own environments. 

Bidders with conflicts of interest
Ms Msweli asked why contracts were awarded to bidders who failed to disclose conflicts of interest.

Organisational structure
Mr L Khoarai (ANC) asked if the organogram could be explained ‘block by block’ and broken down in terms of race, gender and persons with disability. He said he was unable to understand the slide.

Transformation
Ms Moss asked why transformation had only occurred in three provinces? It seemed that only a few provinces had benefited for many years? There was a need to also transform in terms of procurement.

New funding model
Ms Moss asked if the model covered the operational structure? She also wanted to know what the plan was for funding over the next few years.

Mr Van Den Berg asked if the new funding model would make the work of the NAC easier? The mandate was quite a ‘mouthful’. 

NAC issues
Ms Moss asked why mismanagement issues that were being remedied had not been included in this report which would allow the Committee to conduct oversight.  She did not want to hear about the progress from the newspapers but straight from the entity.

Historical imbalances
Mr Ntapane asked what was really being done to address historical imbalances as stated in the mandate.

Written responses
Mrs Mkwetla asked if the NAC could return and analyse the questions in depth as it would help both the Committee and the NAC.

The Chairperson asked for written answers to be submitted by Friday 21 June. There had been no time to address the questions properly. She also urged that the appointment of the CEO not take a long time.

Iziko Museums of South Africa Strategic and Annual Performance Plan 2013 Presentation
Professor Ciraj Rassool, Iziko Museums of South Africa Chairperson, stated that the time of the Council was coming to an end and the Minister had written to him saying the appointment of a new council was underway. The key issue was one of continuity as there was a need to redress the history of racism and subjugation within the country.

Ms Rooksana Omar, Iziko Museums CEO, spoke of the vision, mission and mandate of Iziko.

The Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations placed emphasis on the need to ensure that ‘human development reaches everyone, everywhere’.  Museums could stand aloof from these challenges. Iziko’s contributions to national strategic outcomes were inspired by:

Outcome12B: An empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship, Nation Building, Social Cohesion and Citizen Participation and Outcome 1: Improved quality of basic education.

Iziko’s aim was to contribute to the development of human capital and to promote social cohesion and social justice through our offerings  (as per Outcome 12B). Iziko museums were not static monolithic entities seated on the periphery of society. They were a vital link to our heritage for communities, creating awareness of the historical, natural, social and aesthetic context in which we live, and providing a platform for engagement and discussion.  Iziko connected audiences with the past, present and future through its rich collections, exhibition and research work, for which it was highly regarded nationally, continentally and internationally.  Iziko programmes, specifically education, sought to engage historically disadvantaged / marginalised communities, particularly youth, to allow them access to and enable active participation in the field of arts, culture and heritage. Iziko sought to raise awareness, share knowledge, develop skills and inculcate values among of youth. Iziko thus continued to act as a powerful platform for regeneration. Iziko had focused its strategic objectives on access and audience development to enable inclusive and participatory programmes for all its visitors.

In terms of the Mzansi's Golden Economy Iziko played an active role in the tourism, arts, culture, heritage and the job creation value chain.  Our museums constitute a substantial component of the national tourism product, and attracted many local and international visitors. Tourists made up approximately 48.5% of visitor numbers at certain sites. Museums were not only spaces of memory that celebrated cultural diversity, they were spaces where both knowledge and culture was generated; and an integral part of the life of communities and cities; with the potential to contribute significantly to vital processes of social and economic development.

In the past decade the Council, management and staff (past and present) had worked passionately at transforming mindsets and practices entrenched in previously separate institutional histories and collections. The pull between centralisation in the amalgamated institution and specialised focus across Iziko's departments continued to require care and attention. With each new planning exercise, there was a definite move away from old organisational practices, towards a more dynamic and responsive organisation. 

Iziko’s strategic focus areas were:

-Enhancing the museum experience: access and audience development

-Collections and research: development and preservation of collections as a lasting national resource reflecting our African heritage

-Corporate advancement

-Sound governance and effective and efficient corporate services

She spoke to the individual programmes in terms of purpose and description. Programme one was the enhancement of the museum experience. Under this was access and audience development.

The purpose was:

Promote appreciation of, and respect for, cultural diversity through vibrant museum programmes.

Attract people from diverse communities. There had been an aggressive outreach to get people from different areas however this had been limited by funding.

Connect people, encourage public participation and promote inter-generational dialogue.

Enrich and educate citizens to foster a museum-going culture.

Increase access to collections and programmes.

This programme incorporated strategies and plans related to exhibitions and education and public programmes. Heritage museums in particular, play an important role as catalysts for social change, contributing development and evolution of a society and its social and human capital.

There was a sub programme called Education and Public Programmes (EEP). The EPP areas of operation included:

-Art , Natural and Social history education

-Planetarium programmes

-Public programmes

-Outreach programmes

-Special needs initiatives

-Teacher enrichment

-Trainee and intern programmes 

The Annual Performance Plan (APP) targets included the number of learners at planetarium shows, number of general public at shows and the participants in commemorative days.

Ms Omar spoke to the contribution to strategic objective one, improved basic education. There were various targets set with targets for the percentage of lessons aligned to Department of Basic Education, Teacher/student enrichment sessions, the number of people reached and special needs attendees.

There had been internships and during 2012/13 Iziko had provided ‘internships / WILS opportunities’ to a total of 52. As a result of the internships provided, a number of incumbents secured permanent employment. There was the problem that Iziko did not think that it could fund internship programmes any longer as one of the major funders had pulled out.

South African museums needed to transform and decolonise to become centres of heritage and expertise that respected all peoples and cultures.

In terms of temporary exhibitions Iziko had in recent years been able to install a number of temporary exhibitions that promoted nation building and social cohesion, made possible primarily via partnership and donors. Through these exhibitions, Iziko had been able to address critical questions in the country's history and heritage, and had contributed significantly to the reconstruction dialogue. In 2012/2013, Iziko had hosted a total of 23 special exhibitions that reflected on the diverse history of the country and also gave voice to intertwined art, social and natural history narratives.

In terms of upgrading permanent exhibitions, Iziko currently housed a number of dated social and natural history permanent exhibition, which must be upgraded to reflect recent trends and changes in social and natural history research and in South African society. Iziko needed to install a series of exhibitions that address the imbalances in the presentation and preservation of South African heritage.

She referred to the table in the presentation (slide 22) which indicated how, from 2013 onwards, Iziko might host exhibitions subject to its being able to source funding from willing sponsors. Should this funding be not forthcoming, Iziko would not be able to stage all of them.

Museums were a tool for discussion and a means of building discourse and thus stimulated the country in a dynamic way.

In terms of programme two - development and preservation of collections - there was a need to improve conditions for collections and access to them.

In terms of acquisitions Iziko did not have adequate funding to acquire collections that broadly reflected the rich heritage of those who were deliberately marginalised by colonialism and apartheid. Due to current budgetary constraints, Iziko’s acquisition budgets had previously been inadequate to purchase collections representative of the National Estate. In the current fiscus, Iziko had set aside funds to acquire collections for all of its 11 museums (See slide 30).

Iziko needed to significantly increase acquisition funding to address this imbalance in the presentation of South African history and to acquire artworks and artefacts that could more effectively reflect South Africa’s diversity and present untold stories and experiences of black people during times of oppression. There needed to be funding to empower Iziko to implement an acquisition strategy to secure the legacy of previously marginalised artists and heritage, which included intangible heritage as well as important works by a new generation of artists. She argued that despite challenges Iziko would continue to collect the work of a new generation of artists with support of partners.

Iziko’s commitment to the redress of South Africa’s past was not only through looking at the inequities within our collections and the way that they were presented, but also by addressing glaring contradictions in modes and paradigms of collecting that were made even more offensive in light of South Africa’s new Constitution.

The most glaring example of this had been the inclusion of human remains of indigenous South Africans in the collections, many of which were unethically collected.  This challenge had not been unique to Iziko and extended to collections nationally and globally. Iziko had, however, taken the lead in recent years in proactively seeking ways to return not only the physical remains of people collected over the last 120 years, but also to restore their humanity as well as the dignity of their descendants. The reburial of Mr and Mrs Klaas and Trooi Pienaar at Kuruman, Northern Cape Province on 12 August 2012 had thus a key achievement in this ongoing process.

There had been an aggressive digitisation of collections. The number of new records entered in the database had been 23 899 (SA Biodiversity Information Facility-funding) where the target had been 5 015 for 2013/13. 

Ms Omar said that research was an essential aspect of Iziko practice, and provides the foundation for all its work. In this regard, its partnership with the National Research Foundation (NRF) and other organisations such as the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI); Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST); National Heritage Council (NHC), and Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) enabled Iziko to continue to be one of the leading research institutions that actively generates new knowledge on natural and cultural heritage.

The number of peer reviewed research publications had been 14 in number. There had been nine other publications and five externally funded projects.

In terms of programme three - corporate advancement - the purpose had been to ensure continuous growth and improved sustainability through corporate advancement. The programme incorporated strategies and plans related to financial sustainability and integrated marketing and communication.

She said that there had been an increase in donor funding raised since 2007/8. An average income of R6 595 189 over the past four years indicated a 35% increase over the 2007/08 totals. This total did not include the value of partnerships and in-kind support, estimated to exceed R5 million annually.

She said that despite the fact that Iziko had successfully raised an additional 24.7% of its total budget, it was unable to sustain funding of its programmes. Spending on core-function activities such as conservation, exhibitions, education and public programmes had dropped more than 75% over the past two years. As such Iziko had establish a baseline for revenue streams over the past five years and was implementing a plan to increase income generation through initial focus on capacity and ensuring credentials and appropriate legal vehicles to fundraise effectively in a competitive environment. In 2013/14 there had been an increased income to 30% of total budget which amounts to R24 600 661.80. (Part 2, Slide 6)

In terms of financial sustainability: partnerships, given Iziko’s current funding constraints, special exhibitions, educational programmes, conservation, acquisitions and research were often only possible via strategic partnerships. During 2012/13, various existing and ongoing partnerships continued to contribute in diverse ways to the successful delivery of strategic objectives. More than 42 partnerships plus a further 32 relationships specifically linked to education and public programmes had been realised in 2012/13. Over and above the donor income actually banked, the Rand value equivalent of these partnerships was estimated to exceed R8 076 748. The target for 2013/14 was to sustain and develop strategic relationships and increase communication and acknowledgement of partners across multiple platforms.

Ms Omar spoke programme four (sound governance and effective and efficient corporate services) saying the purpose was to ensure that Iziko was governed and managed efficiently and effectively in order to provide an enabling environment for core functions departments to successfully manage, develop, showcase and transform collections in terms of heritage mandate and long-term vision.

In terms of human resource management the strategic objective was to implement strategies to continuously develop a positive, efficient and diverse workforce that provided an excellent service to all. The targets set for 2013/14 included:

-To develop a learning and development programme that responded to and facilitated organisational change

-To develop and implement a learning and development programme that responded to and facilitated the organisational changes anticipated

-To improve the organisational culture

-To implement the strategy to improve the organisational culture in terms of timelines set in the strategy

-To increase service delivery

A second customer care survey in terms of service from front of house staff had been conducted in March 2012. Corrective measures needed to be implemented.

In terms of facilities management the strategic objective had been to implement strategies to improve and maintain Iziko facilities to ensure that collections were housed in African museums of excellence.

The target set for 2013/14 was to implement internal maintenance programme in terms of the time frames set in strategy.

In terms of risk management the strategic objective had been to implement and review plans, policies and procedures that would ensure Iziko’s preparedness for disasters, mitigate risks identified in the Risk Register and monitor the effectiveness of risk mitigation.

In terms of financial management the strategic objective had been to provide strategic financial management and administrative support that enabled all departments to effectively manage their financial responsibility with the regulatory framework.

The current financial status of Iziko in terms of funding requirements was outlined and Ms Omar stated that despite the moderate success noted Iziko’s projected funding needed to far exceed the current subsidy or performance. A recent Gap analysis projected shortfalls on the basic operating budget (see Part 2, slide 22).

The post-retirement Medical Benefit further burdened Iziko by the annual increase in the liability related to historic (pre-Iziko) post-retirement employee benefits. The projected liability for 2012/2013 was R41 786 606.

In terms of the deficit position, the current budget deficit had been offset by income from fundraising in the MTEF budget projections. However, the likelihood that additional external donor funding could be secured and own income generated to cover operational costs to provide a solution, given current resources and limitations of the legal framework was not realistic. An increased subsidy allocation via the MTEF allocation was essential.

Ms Omar outlined Iziko Museums income, expenditure, trend per budget classification, estimated revenue, estimated expenditure per programme, and estimated expenditure per budget classification.

She said that Iziko had been awarded a clean audit and hoped that this would remain.

Discussion
Funders
Mr Khoarai asked what had been the reason behind the funder pulling out this year?

Ms Omar replied that most funding partnerships were ad hoc for a particular programme. In terms of the pulling from intern funding the donor had decided to run an in-house programme but the intern programme itself had been very successful.

Organogram
Mr Khoarai asked for the organogram and asked for a breakdown in terms of gender, race and persons with disability.

Ms Omar replied that the organogram had been put into the APP and had been delivered to Parliament. There were five females and six males within the senior management structure. If the Member wanted a detailed organogram then this could be delivered but it had already been delivered the previous week.

Auditor General Report
Mr Khoarai asked for the Auditor General’s report despite the clean audit as there may have been some matters of concern.

Mr Ntapane countered that the report had been given to the Committee a long time previously and the entity needed to be commended.

Museums
Ms Mushwana said there was a need for museums to be found all over the country.  It seemed there were 11 national museums.

Ms Omar replied that Iziko was the flagship museum located in the Western Cape.

Accolades
Mr Ntapane said that Iziko was one of the best entities that had appeared before the Committee.

Diversification of audiences
Mr Ntapane asked how audiences would be diversified.

Ms Omar replied that Iziko wanted to increase its audiences by increasing its interaction during the ‘free days’ which were commemorative days in which it approached partners to offer participants free travel into the city to be a part of programmes. In this Iziko had obtained a host of partners to engage in different programmes within and outside the Museums. This was just one strategy that was in place. Another had been the school programmes in which schools had come in and engaged with education staff as well as scientists and curators. Young people had been able to explore and engage in different aspects of Iziko’s work. There had also been NRF funding and it was now possible to assist PhD and post-doctoral scientists to work within the Iziko Museums to get the qualifications. There were mass programmes that went on.

Interns
Ms Nwamitwa-Shilubana asked what had been the length of an internship and if permanent employment sometimes followed.

Ms Omar said that internships could be for three or six months or for one year. If there were open positions then interns were welcomed to apply for the positions. What had been good was that interns who had worked with Iziko had been employed in sister museums.

Transformation
Ms Nwamitwa-Shilubana asked why the whole South African heritage had not been represented within the Museums. There was a big job before Iziko in terms of transformation.

The Chairperson asked why exhibitions were not representative of South African heritage?

Ms Omar replied that transformation was a huge undertaking but focus needed to be the exhibitions. This had been in the thematic plan as there was a need to speak to the new South Africa.

Donor funding
The Chairperson asked what had Iziko done to secure other funding other than from the national government?

Ms Omar replied the Iziko Museums had tried all channels to get funding both within and from outside the country. There had been a great number of proposals to get funding; however, these attempts had not been very successful. Iziko was very proactive in terms of funding.

Marketing
The Chairperson said that museums were an important part of tourism.  She stated that there might be a need to review the entrance fee to the museums. It should be less expensive for South Africans to visit museums.

Drop in the number of visitors
Ms Nwamitwa-Shilubana asked if the number of visitors had dropped due to the rise in the fees to enter the Museums.

Ms Omar replied the numbers had not necessarily dropped due to the increase in the admission fees but more because of the economic situation. The world economy had an impact on the numbers. There were also considerations of weather. Iziko would not turn away people who said that they could not afford to enter the Museums. There were free days and cuts for certain groups such as pensioners and students.

The post-retirement Medical Benefit
Ms Nwamitwa-Shilubana asked if the burden of the post-retirement Medical Benefit could be carried by National Treasury rather than Iziko.

Ms Omar replied there had been engagement with the CFO and National Treasury as this had been a noose around Iziko’s neck and needed to be remedied.

Infrastructure
Mr Van Den Berg asked if the infrastructure was optimal for the work being housed inside (i.e. was it safe, secure and dry?).

Ms Omar replied that Iziko had tried its best with the available resources especially in terms of security.  Security breaches were an international problem. There had been new climate features installed in some exhibitions and there had been an upgrading of climate control.

Youth wage subsidy
Ms Van Schalkwyk asked if the Iziko museum had been able to use the Youth Wage Subsidy to gain experience in the field.

Ms Denise Crous, Iziko Executive Director: Operations, replied there had not been access to the Youth Wage Subsidy but there had been access to other means of funding.

The Chairperson said that this was not a fair question as it was a party policy and not a national one.

Closing remarks
The Chairperson stated that the youth needed to be placed at the centre of initiatives.           

Pan South African Language Board: deliberations (not recorded or reported at Chairperson's request)
The Chairperson requested that this part of the meeting not be recorded or reported on in detail as the names of the chosen candidates could change. The Chairperson said the chosen candidates were at this point not set in stone and the preferred candidates had still to be hashed out.

Members named their preferred candidates and these varied according to individuals and political parties. The meeting became quite heated at times as some parties had not yet finalised their preferred candidates. The Chairperson said that it was not fitting to make public the standing of each candidate according to personal preferences. The Committee as an entity had to reach consensus on which candidates it preferred. The names would be released once this process was completed and proper reasoning could be provided about its choices.

By the end of the meeting, the Committee still needed to finalise one or two candidates.

The meeting was adjourned.

Appendix:
The DA list of preferred candidates for PANSALB board:
M Madiba
WAM Carstens
PS Sobahle
M Alberts
N Levin
HS Theys
Z Jama
TP Ntuli
TJ Nemutanzhela
CM Mayevu
PH Nkuna
JJ Malan
MA Zwane
J Blose
LK Ramadi-Adebola
S Mkize