Honourable House Chairperson; Minister and Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture; the chairperson of the portfolio committee on Sport, Arts and Culture; Hon members of the committee; leadership of the departments' entities; all stakeholders of Arts and Culture; and members of the media present today, I greet you all, the African National Congress, ANC, rises in support of Vote 37 on arts and culture. Since 1994, the ANC led government has
made great strides in the building of a socially inclusive and cohesive nation.
The ANC endeavours for social transformation that prioritises the creation of national identity and the creation of an inclusive society, as spelt out in the Freedom Charter. Some of our key policy and programme interventions related to the achievement of the objectives of social transformation include, amongst others, national policy and programmes for social cohesion. After the adoption of the National Development Plan, NDP, 2030, the ANC's social transformation committee put its focus on the policies in order to align legislation and the implementation of the vision of the NDP. One of the key principles that underpin the NDP is nation building and social cohesion. Nation building and social cohesion are responses to the ongoing and unfinished national project, which began with the transformation of South Africa into a constitutional democracy in 1994. The arts, culture and heritage sector are fundamental to the holistic development of a society, in order to possess the creative and innovative means of self-actualisation and social transformation based on the social practices, values, traditions and the history of cultural communities.
All societies are a social, political, economic and cultural construct that maintains and renews itself by drawing on its creative and innovative store of cultural and heritage resources. The remaking of South Africa into a just and inclusive society cannot be accomplished without drawing on the creative, cultural and heritage resources of all our people. We are proud of the fact that our democracy unleashed the creative energies of people in arts, music, literature, film and dance. We re-affirm our commitment to build national unity and embrace our diversity. With regards to this, the 2019 ANC national and provincial elections manifesto committed to promoting the values of non-racialism and non- sexism through, amongst other areas, arts and culture.
We are proud of the significant progress which has subsequently been made in building a new and inclusive society to which the arts, culture and heritage has made a contribution. Hon members, let us share the budget and resources. Those will create effective and sustainable programmes that will address transformation. The Department has the responsibility to lead nation building and social cohesion through societal transformation. It is also tasked with the responsibility to provide leadership to the arts and culture sector, so as to accelerate transformation through promoting and preserving heritage infrastructure.
Infrastructure development initiatives by the department are aimed at achieving redress for South Africa's historical imbalances and contribute to social transformation through the establishment and maintenance of world- class heritage sites, so as to boost tourism and create job opportunities, particularly in historically disadvantage areas. Over the medium term, the new Infrastructure Management Office sub- programme, in the Heritage and Preservation programme will provide an estimated R1.7 billion to infrastructure projects, at various stages of completion.
The sub- programme will centralise the management and implementation of the arts, culture and heritage infrastructure projects. This office has the necessary expertise to improve infrastructure development, implementation and spending. Of this allocation. R368.7 million, over the medium term, is made available for the implementation of 17 legacy projects such as monuments, memorials and museums. The National Arts Council promotes transformation, social cohesion and nation building, through its investment in the arts. Over the medium term, the council intends to move away from a discipline-based funding approach, to a programmatic approach in which funding is allocated to beneficiaries within specified programmes instead of individual disciplines. The 5 programmes are: social cohesion and nation building, innovation design and creation;
arts platforms, showcases, exhibitions or festivals; strategic innovations and capacity building.
Over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, period, at an estimated cost of R256.7 million, the council plans to continue to ensure impact in the arts and culture sector by providing a three- year funding for an estimated 357 arts organisations; developing and implementing an estimated 24 art programmes; awarding a projected 320 postgraduate bursaries; and supporting an estimated 21 community arts centres. Monitoring and evaluating beneficiaries' forms part of this objective.
It is also tasked with the responsibility of providing leadership to the arts and culture sector to accelerate its transformation in promoting and preserving heritage infrastructure. Infrastructure development initiatives by the department are aimed to achieve redress for South Africa's historical imbalances and contribute to social transformation by establishing and maintaining world class heritage sites so as to boost tourism and create job opportunities. To preserve indigenous languages, the Pan South African Language board, PanSalb, encourages South Africans to make daily use of languages other than English; in an effort to promote equal opportunities, inclusion and redress, as well as the transformation
of marginalised languages. The board plans to conduct language research, address language complaints, promote language awareness and improve its financial management over the medium term. The board is set to receive an estimated R382.7 million over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, period, through transfers from the department.
This allocation is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 5.8%, from R113.6 million in 2018/19 to R134.4 million in 2021/22, and includes R37 million reprioritised to the board to address operational funding pressures and R4.4 million for the devolution of municipal service charges. The ANC's intends to ensure that we effectively contribute to building a cohesive and united society in which everyone has access to arts, culture and heritage resources, facilities and opportunities. This budget will ensure that resources are provided to enable Arts and Culture to continue being a tool of transforming and uniting the country. The ANC supports Vote 37: Thank you.
THE ACTING CHAIRPERSON (MS L S MAKHUBELE-MASHELE): Allow me to
acknowledge Dr Ester Mahlangu, Mrs Noma Mabaso and Mrs Nonsonhlana, in our midst. You are welcome in the people's Parliament.