Hon Chairperson, Minister, Deputy Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, chairperson of the portfolio committee, hon members of the committee, leadership of the department and entities led by the two director-generals, DGs, all stakeholders of the Arts and Culture community, members of media present today, good afternoon, let me start by passing our condolences to the family of Maphoto, after the passing of General Ike Maphoto, our veteran. Also, veteran actor, Mama Nkonyeni, who passed on the past few days; may their soul rest in peace.
Let me also congratulate the appointment of Comrade Nathi Mthethwa as a Minister and Comrade Nocawe as the Deputy Minister of the department.
The ANC rises in support of Vote 37 on Arts and Culture. Let us be reminded of the profound words of President Mandela when he reflected on the role that arts and culture played during the apartheid years. He said, and I quote:
During the worst years of repression, when all avenues of legitimate protest were closed by emergency legislation, it was the arts that articulated the plight and the democratic aspirations of our people. This affirmation was demonstrated through drama, dance, literature, song, film paintings and sculptures that defied the silence that apartheid sought to impose.
Hon members, arts, culture and heritage have played and continue to play a significant role in nation-building. They have contributed towards the growth and the development of our society.
South Africa has been a nation in progress since the advent of our democracy. This progress is in the context of reshaping our sociopolitical and economic construction of our society.
Hon members, the tasks of reconstructing South Africa into a just and an inclusive society cannot be accomplished without drawing on the creative, cultural and heritage resources of all our people.
Twenty-five years into democracy, the task of sociopolitical and economic transformation, premised on the objectives of the national democratic revolution still eludes us as a nation and a country. This includes the institutional transformation of the arts, culture and heritage dispensation of the past.
Subsequently, great strides have been made in constructing a new and inclusive society to which the arts, culture and heritage have immensely contributed.
The ANC, in its construction of the South Africa it desires, has ensured that there is effective contribution in building cohesiveness and unity. This includes ensuring that our people have access to arts, culture and heritage, resources, facilities and opportunities.
Hon members, despite the progressive work that we are continuing to do in the arts, culture and heritage sector, challenges still persist.
The overall infrastructure has been beset with the challenge of lack of expertise, delays in service delivery, cost escalations and failure to derive value for money. We are encouraged by the commitment of the department to ensure the establishment of a project management unit and appoint people with technical skills in the built environment. We will monitor the implementation of this commitment as well as the expenditure of the department on infrastructure projects to ensure that what is spent is what is budgeted for.
The department has experienced budget cuts due to competing priorities. This has had an impact on how the department has distributed or redirected limited resources.
We will monitor the plans that the department is putting in place to implement a new funding regime in the coming financial year. This is important because we have to ensure that the department does not under or overspend but keeps within its budget to ensure that they implement what they have committed.
The department will have to submit to the committee how it plans to continue to fight fraud and corruption and strengthen governance, as
well as how the stability of the department and its entities will be pursued.
We urge the department to hasten the process of finalising a governance framework to strengthen sound governance and standards of operation in its entities. We welcome the strides made by the department to conduct induction workshops, which have been directed to newly appointed boards. This includes a partnership with the Institute of Directors in South Africa, as part of professionalising membership of boards. This is to ensure that all board members formally register as directors of boards in line with best practices on good governance.
All these interventions are put in place because of the lack of frameworks to guide and standardise some of the activities of the entities which has contributed to the growing dysfunctionality in the entities both at boards and at management levels.
Transformation is at the heart of the ANC's social transformation agenda. In respect of arts and culture, President Mandela also reflected and I quote: "It is our hope and fervent belief that the universal language of culture will show us ways to transform and heal the consciousness of all our people.
Transformation is at core of the functioning of this department. As the chairperson has already highlighted, we will ensure that as the committee, we hasten the process of facilitating the process of the approval of the White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage. This will enable the department to implement the recommendations thereof.
The oversight work of the portfolio committee in the Fifth Parliament and that of the audit and risk committees in the 2018-19 raised critical issues that need serious attention by the department. The department will on a quarterly basis have to report to the committee on how these areas of attention are being addressed.
Hon members, whilst the DA is out here grandstanding, their policy on arts, culture and heritage are to attempt to duplicate already existing ANC's policies on arts, culture and heritage. Unfortunately, their policy is not steeped in the principles of Ubuntu. We do note that there have been outcries that there is no political will where they govern in Western Cape, to support the artists.
There have also been concerns that there is no radical shift to recentre the DA government's support of the creative economy to
include townships. Why, because they do not believe in transformation. There are hundreds of townships throughout the Western Cape province and the DA cannot claim easy victory in addressing the needs of the cultural and creative industry in the Western Cape just by only having a centre in Langa and Khayelitsha.
To the DA, transformation means keeping the status quo. Member of the Executive, MEC, Panyaza Lesufi is doing a very good job because he is disrupting the status quo.
On the issue of national days, the President has invited all and sundry to join hands and celebrate these days together because all of us have a commitment to build this nation.
Chairperson, I think it is unparliamentary for the EFF to claim that ANC has not done anything in the arts and culture space, especially as expressed by the speaker. This is like a student in a queue to receive NSFAS but busy telling other students in the queue that the ANC does not deliver. [Applause.]
The Minister has already highlighted strides that have been made, including focusing on positioning of the cultural and creative industries to contribute to economic growth. Hon Ringo is one of the
people who are entrenching and mainstreaming English. He had the audacity to address this House in English, therefore promoting English. Why didn't he use his indigenous language? [Interjections.] I think hon Madlingozi would do better as a singer and the ANC will do everything to assist him to develop further. The ANC government has been supporting him forever. That's why today he is fresh and ...
In conclusion, hon members, President Mandela described our nation as, and I quote:
Being fortunate because of our diversity and it is through cultural cross fertilisation that we can transcend the differences that apartheid has sought to exploit. We must empower our people through programmes of education and literacy through the vehicle of culture, so that we can begin to share and understand our richness and diversity.
Unlike other parties that continue to entrench inequality and disunity, we have heeded the call by President Ramaphosa in his state of the nation address, 2019, that we should advance the nation-building and social cohesion as an apex priority of this 6th administration. We will continue monitoring and ensuring that this
priority is advanced and implemented. The ANC supports this Budget Vote. Thank you.
The MINISTER OF SPORTS, ARTS AND CULTURE: Thank you very much Chair and thanks to members, let me complete the list of the living legends with us here: we have with us Dr Esther Mahlangu, Ms Noria Mabasa, Ms Madosini, Mr Don Mattera and Mr Stompie, they are here. [Applause.]
We also have with us the indigenous language bursary holders from the University of Western Cape, who are benefiting from these programme of the department. [Applause.]
We have been asked by journalists this thing of R100 million and have given them everything but they decided to be lunatics as they are and wrote whatever they want.
I am not going to waste time about that, it is there, we have responded to that and we are not going there again. [Interjections.]
The issue about hon member Van Dyk talking about the booming filming industry, yes, you are correct, it is booming. Western Cape, Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg but you forgot to thank the Department
of Trade and Industry, DTI, National Film & Video Foundation, NFVF, and Arts and Culture. [Applause.] It's not happening on its own. You also forgot that actually whilst we are celebrating, the status quo says out of 270 films made in South Africa, only 30% of them are by the black directors. We must change that status quo. It cannot continue to be what it is.
You also say that we must not build new museums. I hear what you are saying but the resistance and liberation movement museum is going to be built. [Interjections.] We can't have apartheid museum and you say we should ... we are going to build it. It will happen [Izokwenzeka.] [Applause.] It is coming.
I don't even want to go to what hon Ringo Madlingozi. I think it's sufficed what you said.
Mr Luthuli, hon member and other members, including hon member, Mhlongo, we are going to pass the remarks and condolences to the family. We will be with them this weekend because she will be laid to rest on Friday. Thanks for that.
The issue about Mama Winnie Mandela - so you don't even follow news
- we started working there on 02 May. We were not before. We are not
going to account for 2005. At the end of this financial year, we, as the Department of Arts and Culture national say that that house and the OR Tambo garden of remembrance will be finished. So ... [Time expired.] Thank you very much. Thanks members.
Debate concluded
The mini-plenary rose at 18:40. -----------------------