Department of Arts and Culture 3rd quarter 2013/14 performance, District Museum status: South African Heritage Resources Agency briefing

Meeting report

Chairperson’s opening remarks
The Acting Chairperson apologised to the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC or the Department) and the District Six Museum (the Museum) that many of the Portfolio Committee Members were unable to attend this meeting. She noted that there was a need to read the performance reports in conjunction with the most recent budget speech and heed the government’s intentions, as well as using the State of the Nation Address from 2013 as a basis for assessing the progress of the Department. This presentation on the 3^rd quarter spending would indicate where savings might be achieved. The budget was important for everyone.

She further noted the apologies of the Minister but said that the Committee was still hoping that the Minister or Deputy Minister would attend the committee’s meetings. There were a number of outstanding matters that the Committee wished to raise.

Department of Arts and Culture 3^rd quarter 2013/14 performance report
Mr Sibusiso Xaba, Director General, Department of Arts And Culture, presented the 3^rd quarter 2013/14 performance report. He noted that at the moment, The DAC was also presenting to a Select Committee, and he wished to place this on record, as well as noting the new instructions from National Treasury in regard to the delegation sizes. He said that the current third quarter report was both a performance and a financial report, measuring performance against the Annual Performance Plan (APP) as well as the budget for 2013/14. It would examine the variances by economic classification, expenditures, and explain any areas of under-performance. He would also indicate the performance of the entities, in line with earlier requests by this Committee.

The highlight of this quarter included the unveiling of the statue of late President Nelson Mandela installed at the Union Buildings, on the day after his funeral. DAC had  created 5 531 job opportunities through service delivery initiatives. The DAC also had managed to approve three policies; namely the Digitisation of Heritage Resources Policy, the National Heritage Human Resources Development Strategy, as well as the National Archives Digitisation Strategy. Two gazettes were published, as well as name changes, in which 83 of 92 requests were approved. Two Archival Outreach Programmes were conducted in the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape. Under infrastructure, three new libraries and eleven infrastructure projects were funded.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had requested the DAC for assistance in training 70 officials on archives and record management, and this was done in October as part of the post-conflict Reconstruction and Development Programme efforts with the DRC. The DAC had hosted the 10th Annual Oral History Conference in Northern Cape. Collaborative arts education projects, in partnership with the Department of Basic Education (DBE)  were conducted in Gauteng. A Schools Art Festival, and 100 school Arts and Theatre Education Programmes were held in Johannesburg at Braamfontein.

In the field of international relations, the DAC had participated in the International Festival of African Fashion (FIMA) as part of a bilateral agreement with Niger. South African designers were nominated for awards. The DAC participated in the Southern Arab Democratic Republic Festival, and held workshops with universities and academics on the Beijing Treaty on Audio-Visual Performances, in Cape Town. Three workshops were held on the Convention on Cultural Diversity, in East London, Kimberley and Pretoria. The DAC also participated in Joint Bilateral Commissions towards developing and servicing bilateral agreements with Rwanda, Iran, Niger, Saudi Arabia and Ghana. A Ministerial visit took place and a Programme of Collaboration (PoC) with Angola was signed, which looked at shared liberation heritage sites of South Africa and Angola. Minister of Arts and Culture, Mr Paul Mashatile, had also participated at the 6th Edition of the Forum d’Avignon International Meeting from 21 to 23 November, in France. This was an annual meeting hosted by the French Minister of Arts and Culture, and was held to allow Europe’s Ministers of Culture to exchange information about the growth of the European cultural industries.  The DAC had participated in this over the last five years because of the importance of South Africa and the growth of the South African Industry in Arts and Culture.

The launch of the Freedom Friday campaign was part of the activation and encouraging of community participation, and it was launched in Soweto in October 2013, with a number of partners, including LEAD SA.

The budget for the DAC was R2.91 billion, of which R2 billion had been spent to date, representing 69%. A summary of the total budget and the expenditure per programme (see attached document) showed that 88% of the spending went to administration, which was under pressure, but that the Performing Arts and National Language programmes had underspent, at 68% and 67% respectively. There was also underspending in Heritage Promotion and National Archives, at 73%.

A summary of total budget seen against a breakdown of the expenditure by economic classification showed that the respective budgets for Goods and Services (which included payments for Financial Assets) was 71%, that the Provinces and Municipalities Conditional Grant was at 79%, Departmental Agencies and Accounts (Current) was at 75%, and Foreign Government Organs was at 75%. This was transferred as part of the Commonwealth Association, as well as funding supporting the African World Heritage Fund. Departmental Agencies and Accounts (Capital Works) had spent 38%. Non Profit Organisations spent 75% and Capital Assets had spent 89% of their budgets.

The variance explanations for Cost of Employment (COE ) were that 31 out of the projected 41 posts were filled. No over or under expenditure was anticipated by March 2014.  In relation to Goods and Services, the DAC had applied for a virement approval, to transfer part of the goods and services money to Households, in order to pay for projects. Approval was received and the funds would now be moved. However, the DAC noted its concern that the Department of Public Works (DPW) continued to invoice the DAC late. He explained that DPW paid upfront for the municipal services and would then invoice the DAC, but that sending the invoices through late would affect the cash flow plans of the DAC. With effect from the next financial year, money for municipal services, as well as leases paid for on behalf of institutions, would be part of monies that the DAC would transfer directly to institutions, so the DPW would no longer be playing this role. Institutions should be able to pay for their own leases and municipal services. He explained that the current system tended to distort the situation, because money would be sitting without being able to be transferred.

In relation to conditional grants, an amount of R470 million (79%) had been transferred, as at 31 December 2013, which was based on their business plans. The total available for all provinces was R640.435 million, and provinces had received R386.629 million. They had spent 60% of the total grant and this was an increase from previous years. Provinces whose spending remained of concern included Limpopo, Northern Cape, and the North West. The North West had large orders to be sent in the 3^rd quarter, so the real concern was still with Limpopo. However, Mr Xaba indicated that the DAC was holding a meeting in the following week with the Heads of Departments, to look at the status of the grants.

DAC hadentered into an agreement with the Independent Development Trust (IDT) to help the DAC build libraries and to plan.The big problem and difference between the provinces who sent through full reporting on their budgets and those that did not was the extent of infrastructure planning. He pointed out that it was necessary to do planning in the previous financial year since contractors were supposed to be on site at the beginning of the new financial year.

He then went through the spending for the Departmental Agencies and Accounts (Current Transfers), saying that, at 75%, it was in line with expectations and there should be no under- or over-expenditure at year end. The Departmental Agencies and Accounts (Capital Works) showed expenditure of R194 million (38%) as at 31 December 2013. This under-expenditure was ascribed to the DPW again submitting its invoices late. However, it was noted that quite a substantial sum had been moved to the infrastructure accounts to fund different kinds of projects. DAC anticipated spending the full budget, due to the type of projects anticipated.

In regard to transfers to Non Profit Institutions, Mr Xaba said that the expenditure of R10.1 million (75%) as at 31 December 2013 was in line with the projected expenditure. In relation to Households, an amount of R112 million (79%) had been spent as at 31 December 2013, in line with the planned projected expenditure.

The spending for Capital Assets showed that R6.1 million (89%) had been spent as at 31 December 2013. The DAC was under pressure, as it had to take possession of a large amount of IT equipment in order to move to an electronic document management system. On 3 March the paper-based system would be terminated

He noted that where there were instances of over-expenditure they would be monitored to curb the trends.

Mr Xaba noted that as far as performance was concerned, the DAC had achieved 63% of all objectives by the end of the third quarter. Speaking to the programmes, he noted that Programme 1 performance was at 54%, Programme 2 at 42%, Programme 3 at 100%, Programme 4 at 63%, Programme 5 at 46% and Programme 6 at 78%.

Speaking to the Estimates of national Expenditure (ENE) targets, he noted that 160 Arts teachers had to be placed in schools. Five public art programmes had been implemented, and 621 jobs were created. The DAC had a target of providing 280 language practice bursaries, but 336 bursaries were awarded to date. The numbers of hand-held flags was high due to the death and funeral of President Nelson Mandela.  In relation to the heritage projects, the OR Tambo budget had been revised and the project was now in progress. Provisional letters of award to bursary recipients were sent.

There had been five community libraries upgraded for the 3rd Quarter. Eastern Cape had deferred its upgrades to 2012/2015, due to budget shortfalls. The Eastern Cape had started to deal with a number of libraries, phase by phase instead of completing one at a time.

In respect of Limpopo, the DAC was talking to National Treasury to take some of the money from Limpopo and distribute it to provinces that were performing but were under budget pressure.

The target for the number of jobs to be created through arts, culture, and heritage events was 9 832 and 2 103 jobs were created. Touring venture programmes would be starting in this quarter. 13 out of 39 cultural events were done.

Mr Xaba presented performance against the APP indicators. He noted that 100% of service providers were paid by the DAC within the requisite 30 days. He noted that some of the training interventions that were targeted for the second quarter were only rolled out in the third quarter. All of the cases reported to the Presidential Hotline were resolved. The Capital Works expenditure would improve as the Project Support Team was addressing projects still in progress. The DAC would engage with the DPW to submit claims on time for processing. An expenditure of R2.007 billion (69%) cumulatively had been incurred.

Most of the posts that were advertised since April 2013 were filled in the 3rd quarter. In regard to capital projects, he reiterated that underspent funds from poorly- performing projects would be redirected to new projects by the end of February 2014. More than three media liaison initiatives were implemented, as well as a briefing on the Mandela Film, Dr Beyers Naude's Memorial Unveiling, the Chief Albert Luthuli Memorial Lecture, the Rahima Moosa Memorial Unveiling, as well as the Oral History Conference on Reconciliation. There were two targeted group enrichment programmes supported. Two Youth Programmes were held in two provinces, in partnership with youth empowerment projects of Youth Development (KZN) and Winterveldt Arts & Culture Forum (Gauteng). An Older Person's Week was hosted on 3 October 2013 at Freedom Park Museum, and the Zwakala Awards for 2013 were hosted on 25 October 2013. Women Empowerment Workshops were held at Badplaas, Mpumalanga on 17 October 2013, as well as at Thohoyandou, Limpopo on 5 October 2013.

Mr Xaba then turned to the targets for the National Language Service and set out the number terminologies developed for each domain (see attached presentation for details). The final consultative meetings for elections were held in 10 official languages. 100 documents were translated/edited in line with clients' specifications.

Under Programme 4: Cultural Development, proposals for research on establishing the entity were evaluated by the Bid Evaluation Committee, and a submission was drafted regarding an alternative proposal for Art Bank. A conceptual framework was under development and a strategic partnership was under way with University of the Witwatersrand. A workshop had been held with National Treasury in November and the provinces, to consider updates for new international funding trends and modalities, in order to assist South Africa, as a middle-income country to respond to issues around open development.

Programme 5 dealt with Heritage Promotion, and although the costing of the National Museums Policy had not been completed, the budget submission and terms of reference were submitted for approval. There had been alignment done between the White Paper and the Museums Policy. A service provider was to be appointed by end February 2014 to complete the costing exercise. The presentation of the National Living Heritage Policy to the relevant portfolio committees was not done by 31 December 2013 although the Policy and Cabinet Memorandum was approved by Minister. The Minister would be requested to approve and sign a letter requesting inclusion of the presentation on the agenda of the relevant Portfolio Committee. The same applied to the Underwater Cultural Policy.  

The 2013 Day of Reconciliation was hosted on 16 December 2013 at the Union Buildings, Pretoria. DAC published two Gazettes on the geographical names, and he noted that the Department had received 92 applications, and 83 had been approved by the Minister. He repeated that the casting and unveiling of the Mandela Statue was done on 16 December.

The statistics and list of activities done for Programme 6: Archives and Library Services, was presented. Three new libraries were built in Perdekop (Mpumalanga),  Nkqubela and KwaNonqaba (Western Cape). The DAC had hosted the 10th Annual Oral History Conference in the Northern Cape Provincial Archives, Kimberley, in October 2013. He listed the numbers of sound recordings, videos and films inventoried. 1 167 new archivists were appointed. Two Archival Outreach programmes were undertaken in the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape, informing learners about archival services, functions and professions and available career options. 93 947 library materials were purchased

Mr Xaba explained the areas of under-performance as highlighted in the slides. It was still awaiting an invitation from the Select Committee on Arts and Education, to present the Charter for African Cultural Renaissance, and this had delayed the ratification of the Charter. In this quarter, two of the public entities – the Pan South African Language Board and the Windybrow Theatre – had been operating without councils. Provinces and other departments had shown unwillingness to commit to Social Cohesion initiatives, which then impacted on the ability of the National Social Cohesion Feedback Summit Steering Committee to implement an action plan. Slow procurement processes, budget cuts in the monitoring and evaluation programme and dependency on other implementing agencies had presented challenges.

Reviewing the performance of the public entities, Mr Xaba said that the public entities comprised performing arts institutions, heritage intuitions, funding bodies, and Constitutional bodies. An amount of R1.4 billion had been transferred and R1.36 billion would be expended, which included rollovers to next year. He explained that this included the commitments. Around 90% of the money transferred to institutions had been spent. The performing arts had overspent against the budget for this year as they were still spending on amounts budgeted from the previous year.

Discussion
Dr H Van Schalkwyk (DA) expressed pleasure that the names of the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) Board Members would be published on Friday, and said that the largest failing of the DAC to date was the failure to have a properly functioning PanSALB Board She summarised the process from the resolution of the Board to the appointment of potential candidates. She pointed out that media articles had revealed that PanSALB apparently owed R3.3 million in taxes, which were deducted but not paid to South African Revenue Services (SARS) and that problems were still continuing. She said that the presence of Mr Zwane had been a constant problem. She wondered if the DAC was according enough priority to the language issue, pointing out that the legislation governing official languages would fail if PanSALB was not properly constituted and operating.   In addition, R13 million owed by PANSALB. Mr Zwane is a common factor and problems are continuing. She questions if language is a priority. Outstanding dictionaries were another problem. She requested that DAC must ensure the proper functioning of PanSALB.

Ms T Nwamitwa-Shilubana (ANC) supported these comments. She also wanted to know what were the problems in Limpopo, and why there were no libraries.

Mr P Ntshiqela (COPE) appreciated the presentation by the DG, but referred to missing pages in the hard copies. He asked for more detail on the social cohesion challenges, the schools at Mbashe, the lack of creation of the job opportunities in line with the targets, and asked, seeing that Sigiswele has no library, how this project could be started.

Mr N van den Berg (DA) noted that PANSALB was not operating in a silo, but was intimately connected to the Languages legislation and the Committee had worked hard on this in the last year. He pointed out that the regulations were also published in the past year, and was disappointed that no progress had been made. He fully supported the comments of Mr Ntshiqela, and said that the laws were made to improve the lives of South Africans. He requested that the Committee should be addressing the Minister on the issues, requesting a definitive answer. He wanted to register his protest that so much vital business had been left unfinished, including the matter concerning the outstanding money owed to SARS. PanSALB should be working well in the lead-up to elections. He suggested that this Committee needed to go back through its minutes, and isolate the resolutions reached, to make sure that it completed all the unfinished issues, even if extra meetings were called, otherwise fingers would be pointed at this Committee. He suggested that by the following week, the Minister should be asked to write back to the Committee giving the reasons for the delay; and the Committee should be prepared to accept them, if they were good reasons.

Mr D Mavunda (ANC) wanted to know why there was so little progress on capital works, and said that although the DAC gave repeated explanations, they were not satisfactory and he wanted to know when there was likely to be change.

The Acting Chairperson enquired if the President was aware of the situation with PanSALB. She asked if the DAC had taken specific note of the expectations and timeframes for implementation that were expressed in regard to government functions, in the Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report of the Committee.  

The Acting Chairperson also expressed her concerns about the advertised posts. She noted that Members had expended considerable time on the issues, often at huge personal sacrifice, yet the Committee was still sitting with poorly managed issues. She did not even know who the new PanSALB Board would be and said that the Minister must explain the delays when he attended a meeting.

She said that credit must be given, where due, to the Director General, and said that the current Chairperson of PanSALB had also managed to effect some change, apart from getting the outstanding debt paid.

The Acting Chairperson noted the comment of Ms Nwamitwa-Shilubana on libraries in Limpopo, and wondered why the DAC was not considering partnerships to try to fast-track issues. She had seen libraries in some of the deep rural areas. The DAC had its own challenges, and she was supportive of a partnership being established with the IDT if DPW was failing to deliver.

Mr Xaba firstly dealt with the questions and comments around PanSALB. The structure of PanSALB was under-funded; either the amount of R72 million must be reconsidered, or a simpler structure must be established.  DAC was asking National Treasury for more funding, but the PanSALB budget had already increased by 50% over the last three years, and the DAC was unable to change the structure without legislative changes being made. However, he was confident that the new Board appointments would help.

The Acting Chairperson enquired why posts were advertised if there was no budget and asked if PanSALB actually had the money for the posts.

Mr Xaba said that the critical vacancies that had to be filled were the posts of Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Affairs. PanSALB certainly did not have to fill all the posts at this stage, but had to fill some, to be properly operational.

Mr Xaba acknowledged the comment on Limpopo problem, but said that the DAC was reliant on getting feedback from the DPW and a list of projects. The DAC had tried to help but had met with some resistance and Limpopo had actually handed back the money for the libraries, which was then re-distributed to other provinces.

In regard to comment around the vacancies, he noted that there was a problem in filling a Deputy Director post, but hoped, with the Department of Public Service and Administration, to head-hunt in order to fill the post. He answered questions asked previously about flags in schools and said that there was only one service provider for the flags, which was the reason for the delays, but the Treasury was prepared to pay for extra flags.

Mr Xaba described the relationship with the DPW as “a system thing”. He explained again that DPW acted as a landlord, and would purchase, make payments and enter into leases for departments. They were then supposed to consolidate the accounts and send them through to the DAC, who would reimburse DPW. However, the Auditor-General had expressed reservations about the system, asserting that if the DPW could not deliver efficiently it would put the DAC in a very difficult situation, and DPW should be giving a breakdown on all invoices. Whilst the current legislation did not allow for individual departments to own or lease property in their own names, the transfer of money to the entities should help to bypass some of the DPW problems. The same comment applied to money that was supposed to be spent on infrastructure, where DPW was also involved.

Mr Sakiwo Tyiso, Chief Director: Monitoring and Evaluation, DAC, added that although the IDT would be involved in future projects, some dependency would remain with the DPW.

In relation to the virements, Mr Xaba indicated that National Treasury had classified the Mzansi Gold as a Goods and Services item, and therefore tenders would be required.

Formal Protection of District Six update briefing
Mr Dumisani Sibayi, Representative, South African Heritage Resources Agency,  emphasised that there was need to adopt a multidisciplinary approach to Heritage Resource management. The significance of District Six could not be questioned, as it was on a par with other national heritage sites like Madiba's birthplace, the Union Buildings, Parliament and sites associated with Oliver Tambo. In 2004, District Six had been was upgraded to a Grade 1 National Heritage site. He also noted that the management plan for the area was extremely important.

He tabled and took Members through the attached document.

The Acting Chairperson noted that this was a cultural institution, but pointed to the recommendations of the Portfolio Committee around the issue. She pointed out that at the moment the Heritage Budget apparently did not allow for a proper plan of action in relation to the site, but that this was a matter under review and reconsideration.

Mr Xaba noted that there was a process to be followed, through the Minister, and he undertook that it would be followed.

Discussion
Mr Ntshiqela enquired exactly how the Human Resource Management policy was going to ensure the “Inclusion of Communities in the Management of the Institution”. He said that the Committee needed to understand the impact, and get an appreciation for how exactly this would be done. He also wanted to hear more about the challenges that arose from having multiple stakeholders, and asked what, in this context “a stakeholder” included. He also needed to hear more on the main challenges with the integrated management plan.

Mr Mavunda enquired what the main challenges were around land claims and families.

Ms F Mushwana (ANC) referred to the HRM approach as set out in bullet point 3. and the need for strengthening of relationships.

Ms Mushwana asked what was meant by a “grade 1” site

Ms Nwamitwa-Shilubana noted the history of forced removals and also needed clarity on what was implicit in a Grade 1 listing, and the significance of owning a property for less than six years, particularly in the light of the economic development issues.

The Acting Chairperson noted that the integrated development approach that was first tabled by former President Thabo Mbeki perhaps needed to be reconsidered. She was concerned that the decisions were not being put into action, and said that the Parliamentary Liaison Officers needed to assist

The Acting Chairperson also wanted some comment on the statement around “integration of culture and museums (new) while entertaining old museums”.

A representative from the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) said that the integrated approach recognised the importance of the aesthetics of the buildings – such as Parliament – but also the importance of their socio-political history. The grading into certain listings allowed for further research to be done where necessary. Grade 1 sites could generally be better managed at a national level as they were of more concern to the whole nation as sites of historical importance overall. Grade 2 sites would be those primarily of concern to the local community Development. However, there must also be sensitivity to issues of conservation and the environment. All of these must be considered in an integrated approach.

Mr Xaba added that the impact of declaring institutions as falling within categories was also linked to the money that needed to be spent and ensuring that the public were able to access the sites. Institutions would need to be properly audited and comply with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) requirements. He said that “new money”  was needed for many sites – and these would include, for example, the Lilieslief Farm Voortrekker Monument. The DAC was engaged in processes with National Treasury to try to convince the latter to resource adequately in order to balance the heritage structure of the country.

The Acting Chairperson pronounced on the need to close the lines of “apartheid geography” and infrastructure with a “business unusual” approach, as first raised under former President Mbeki, and was insistent that such an approach had to be followed.

The Acting Chairperson noted that the minutes and recording of Venue 44 must be given to the Director General. The District Six Museum and the DAC must develop a mechanism for cooperation, in order to incorporate District Six Museum into the transformation lines of the DAC, as it could not be seen as an island on its own.

The meeting was adjourned.