Voorsitter, ek wil darem net vir die voorsitter van ons komitee, die agb Sunduza, s dat sy vandag regtig baie mooi lyk in haar rok. [Gelag.] Ek wens ek was nog 'n jong man.
Voorsitter, na 18 jaar van die viering van vryheid in ons land, is die uitdaging om ons demokrasie in stand te hou nog net so groot of dalk groter. Kuns en kultuur is die senuweesentrum van al die mense in ons land in hul kleurryke, veeltalige verskeidenheid.
Baie dankie vir die geleentheid om te kan praat in die Parlement van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika; 'n demokratiese Parlement. Die werk wat die departement doen is veel belangriker as wat ons ooit sou kon dink. Kuns en kultuur is 'n abstrakte "iets", maar tog ook nie.
Al is ek en jy gebore Suid-Afrikaners, s die boodskap wat die Departement van Kuns en Kultuur uitstraal of my en jou hart in Suid-Afrika welkom is. Dink hier aan name, taal, kultuur-uitlewing en dies meer. Wat belangrik is, is die bou van 'n gesamentlike toekoms wat ons moet deel, in teenstelling met 'n verdeelde, verbrokkelde verlede. Ons moet harder werk om almal te laat inkoop in verandering. Ons moet aanvaar dat die toekoms dinge gaan verander. Ontwikkeling is in wese verandering. Suid-Afrika het nou, na 18 jaar, stemreg.
Die DA stem saam dat name verander moet word sodat almal deel is van die toekoms. Dit is baie belangrik en ek stem saam met die agb Sunduza dat hierdie name wat mense se harteseer maak, nie inpas by die nuwe Suid-Afrika waarin ons almal moet inkoop nie. Ek dink ons moet dit eenkant toe skuif; dit is nie meer onderhandelbaar nie. Ek dink ons stem 100% saam daaroor. [Applous.]
Die geskiedenis van die land moet baie deeglik gerespekteer word. Dit gaan nie hier oor net die Afrikaanse name nie, maar oor meer as dit. Prosesse moet deeglik gevolg word wanneer die historiese belangrikheid van name beoordeel word. Daar is baie belangrike historiese name wat gebruik word as straatname en dies meer. Ons moet baie fyn kyk sodat ons nie dele van ons wonderlike geskiedenis sommer net weggooi ter wille van verandering nie. Wat baie belangrik is, is dat nasiebou en versoening sentraal in hierdie hele proses moet staan.
Die Minister het baie gepraat oor die erfenisterreine en so meer en dis baie belangrik dat dit gebeur, maar ek vra die departement om hierdie nuwe erfenisgebiede te bemark sodat wanneer iemand deur die land ry, hy sal weet dat daar byvoorbeeld 'n wonderlike museum in Oos-Londen is. Ons moet die straatadres ken!
Op hierdie wyse kan ons mekaar se geskiedenis, ons erfenisverlede, leer ken, want ons ken nie mekaar se verlede in hierdie land nie. In ons komitee hoor ek van die name van persone oor wie ek moet vra watter rol die persoon in ons land gespeel het. Daar is ook baie ander name wat sommer eenkant toe geskuif word, en daardie mense het vir die opbou en die totstandkoming van Suid-Afrika baie beteken. Ons moet nie net name weggooi omdat ons in daardie stadium so voel nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Mr N J VAN DEN BERG: Chairperson, I just want to tell the chairperson of our committee, the hon Sunduza, that she really looks very pretty in her dress today. [Laughter.] I wish I were still a young man.
Chairperson, after 18 years of celebrating freedom in our country, the challenge of keeping our democracy intact is still as big or perhaps bigger. Arts and culture form the nerve centre of all of our country's people in their colourful, multilingual diversity.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak in the Parliament of South Africa; a democratic Parliament. The work done by the department is more important than we could ever imagine. Arts and culture denote an abstract "something", and yet also not.
Even if you and I are born South Africans, the message which the Department of Arts and Culture broadcasts tells us whether your and my heart are welcome in South Africa. Here consider names, language, cultural expression and the like. Of importance is building a joint future which we must share, as opposed to a divided, disintegrated past. We will have to work harder at getting everyone to buy into change. We must accept that the future is going to change things. Development is, in fact, change. South Africa now has the right to vote after 18 years. The DA agrees that names have to be changed so that everyone can become part of the future. This is very important and I agree with the hon Sunduza that those names which are causing people heartache are just not suited to the new South Africa which we all have to buy into. I think they will have to be pushed aside; this is no longer negotiable. I think we are 100% agreed on this. [Applause.]
The country's history should be properly respected. This is not just about the Afrikaans names, but about more than that. Processes should be properly followed when evaluating the historical importance of names. Very important historical names are being used as street names and so on. We should look carefully so that we do not just throw away parts of our awesome history simply for the sake of change. What is important, is for nation-building and reconciliation to take a central position in this whole process.
The Minister has spoken at length about heritage sites and so on and it is important for this to happen, but I am asking the department to market such new heritage sites so that when someone is travelling through the countryside they will know that there is, for instance, a wonderful museum in East London. We have to know the street address!
In this way we can get to know each other's history, our cultural past, because in this country we do not know each other's past. In our committee I hear the names of people regarding whom I have to ask what role that person played in our country. There are also many other names that are simply pushed aside, yet those people meant a lot in the building and establishment of South Africa. We should not just discard names because that is how we feel at that stage.]
The vision of the Department of Arts and Culture states clearly that it is a sector that contributes significantly to social cohesion, nation-building and economic empowerment.
Die DA se parlementre leier, die agb Lindiwe Mazibuko, het haar dikwels daaroor uitgespreek dat die Parlement weer sentraal moet staan in al ons werk, en dat die Ministers die Parlement met groter agting moet bejen. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[The DA's parliamentary leader, the hon Lindiwe Mazibuko, has often voiced her opinion that Parliament should once again be central to all our endeavours, and that the Ministers should hold Parliament in higher regard.]
Chairperson, through you, I formally ask the Minister please to attend the meetings of the Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture. We don't see him or his Deputy. Please, we want to see you there. The Director-General of Arts and Culture is not in charge of your department; you are, sir. Please, let me see you in future. This happens at a time when we are discussing the South African Languages Bill.
Ek wil nie in die verlede dool nie. Ons kon al baie verder gewees het, Minister, as u net daar teenwoordig was. As woordvoerder vir kuns en kultuur, wil ek dit beslis herbeklemtoon: die DA veg vir elke taal in hierdie land.
Ek wil by die agb Sunduza aansluit. Al ons tale in Suid-Afrika is vir ons belangrik. Die een is nie belangriker as die ander nie. Ek stem 100% saam dat sekere tale in ons land in die verlede eenkant toe geskuif is vanwe die feit dat dit 'n beleid was van die apartheidsregering dat Afrikaans en Engels voorrang moes geniet.
Soos ons die toekoms ingaan - ons het daaroor gepraat in ons komiteevergaderings - moet ons baie deeglik kyk na daardie tale wat 'n minimumvereiste is en ons moet kyk na die maksimum wat ons kan akkommodeer, byvoorbeeld vier tale. Hierdie ding wat ingesluit is in die wysigingswetsontwerp, dat voorheen benadeelde tale bevoordeel moet word, kan weer beteken dat tale wat voorheen 'n soort gelykberegtiging gehad het eenkant toe geskuif word.
Ek s spesifiek dat dit nie hier net oor Afrikaans gaan nie. Ons weet daar is tale in Limpopo wat deur min mense gepraat word, en ek het ook aan die komitee ges, en agb Sunduza sal met my saamstem, dat ons nie daar kan sit as 'n komitee, as deel van die Parlement van Suid-Afrika, en dinge besluit oor die toekoms wat ons kinders en kleinkinders gaan benadeel nie. Ons moet 'n ding skep wat almal gelukkig sal maak.
Daarom is dit vir my so belangrik dat ons wat hier sit, alhoewel ons 'n verdeelde verlede het, saam met mekaar 'n toekoms moet bou. Die vierde Parlement moet help om dit te bou, sodat ons almal saam die toekoms kan instap, dat ons almal gelukkig en tevrede kan wees in di land waarin ons geplaas is.
Ons moet 'n toekoms bou. Ons wat hier sit, die vierde Parlement, moet help om dit te bou, sodat ons almal saam die toekoms kan instap; sodat ons almal gelukkig en tevrede kan wees in di land waarin ons geplaas is.
Dit is baie belangrik dat 'n taalombudsman aangestel moet word. Die Pan- Suid-Afrikaanse Taalraad, Pansat, kan dit bloot nie doen nie. Die komitee het sy kommer uitgespreek oor die wanfunksionele stand van Pansalb - en dit terwyl die raad steeds geld wil h. Daar is al daaroor gepraat, maar ek dink oor die taalkwessie stem ons saam, dat ons almal moet laat inkoop. Geen taal moet voel dat hy eenkant toe geskuif word nie, want dan doen ons ons demokratiese plig in hierdie Parlement nie korrek nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[I do not wish to roam around in the past. We could have been a lot further along, Minister, if you had just been present there. As spokesperson on arts and culture I definitely wish to reiterate: The DA is fighting for every language in this country.
I would like to link up with the hon Sunduza. All our languages in South Africa are important to us. One is not more important than the other. I agree 100% that certain languages in our country have been pushed aside because of the fact that it was a policy of the apartheid government that Afrikaans and English should take precedence.
As we head into the future - we have spoken about this in our committee meetings - we have to take a very good look at those languages that are a minimum requirement and consider the maximum we can accommodate, for instance four languages. This thing that has been included in the amending Bill, that previously disadvantaged languages should be favoured, could again mean that languages that previously enjoyed equality of status will be pushed aside.
I am saying specifically that this is not just about Afrikaans. We know that there are languages in Limpopo that are spoken by very few people, and I have said to the committee, and the hon Sunduza will agree with me, that we cannot sit there as a committee, as part of the Parliament of South Africa, and decide on matters regarding the future that may disadvantage our children and grandchildren. We have to create something that will make everybody happy.
That is why it is so important to me that we who are seated here, although we have a divided past, must build a future with each other. The Fourth Parliament must assist in building it, so that we can take steps towards the future together; so that we can all be happy and satisfied in this country in which we have been placed.
It is important that a language ombudsman be appointed. The Pan South African Language Board, PanSALB, simply cannot do it. The committee has expressed its concern at the dysfunctional state of PanSALB - and this while the board is forever in need of money. This has been discussed, but I believe we are agreed on the language issue, that we have to have everybody's buy-in. No language must feel it is being pushed aside, because then we will not be fulfilling our democratic duty in this Parliament properly.]
The Constitution sets us the ideal of ubuntu - that a person is made a person through his relationships with other people. Language is central to this experience. The DA believes that a language Act will provide us with the means to promote the tenets of ubuntu. The Act would facilitate social cohesion and unite us in our diversity, for a language is far more than a tool of communication - it is a bridge that can connect us.
A language Act would also provide many practical gains. We can think here about job creation - and I do not want to go further into that.
Now I have to touch on - oh, welcome to the new Chairperson [Laughter.] - the Venice Biennale. After 17 years away from the scene, South Africa was fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in the Venice Biennale, a contemporary art exhibition that takes place every second year. The project raked up a budget of R14,1 million, R10 million of which was financed by the Department of Arts and Culture. It is still unclear how the remaining R4,1 million was funded.
A web of suspicious connections was at the forefront of this event. The commissioner, Monna Mokoena, appointed Thembinkosi Goniwe to curate the South African pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Then, Goniwe included among the four artists selected to take part in the exhibition, two artists, both of whom were from Mr Monna Mokoena's stable of artists. Ha, ha! I wonder ... [Interjections.]
This resulted in an outcry from the arts community and a string of unanswered questions remains. It is thus understandable that stakeholders have questioned the "opaque" details and the "secrecy and lack of information" related to the event. The Minister's reply, however, raises more questions than it answers. I am sorry, sir, it is true.
Events like the Venice Biennale are unique opportunities to showcase South Africa's vibrant and diverse cultural scene and to create a platform for emerging artists. Our participation in the Venice Biennale appears to have been manipulated to line the pockets of connected individuals. The Minister has to shed light on what continues to be the very murky circumstances surrounding this event.
Regarding administration - and I am going to say it quietly - I was shocked to discover that the Director-General of the Department of Arts and Culture revealed that this department will squander R46 million on consultants in this coming financial year. I cannot comprehend how this figure can be justified.
I know there is a shortage of specialised skills, but Minister, if you need people to help you, ask me. I know a lot! [Laughter.] Please come and ask me and I will do it for free. The department has a total budget of R209,7 million, with R46,7 million to be squandered on consultants.
With regard to the National Arts Council of South Africa, I have my doubts. Established in 2005, the South African Youth Choir is one of the most exciting choral projects in the world today. It brings together exceptionally talented young singers from all over our beautiful and diverse country, giving them the opportunity to excel on an artistic and scholastic level. The choir members are committed to artistic excellence. Many members come from disadvantaged areas and many are orphans. They are the raw talent of South Africa. The choir offers them a voice and hope. They dare to dream.
I learnt with great despair that this group is just days away from financial ruin. The choir has applied on multiple occasions for financial assistance from government and from the National Lottery, without any success. The Department of Arts and Culture has a social responsibility to support and nurture an undeniably "proudly South African" export product. It has on more than one occasion won international competitions.
Similarly, South Africa's professional dance companies are facing an uncertain future after their triennial funding from the National Arts Council of South Africa stopped abruptly last month.