Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, the Department of Arts and Culture has the task of using arts and cultural activities to bridge the gap between the first and second economies through the Investing in Culture Programme. We are aware that this programme has been negatively affected by corruption and mismanagement of funds over the past few years.
The national call for job creation must stand at the centre of all arts and culture projects. Thousands of marginalised poor are not working. They cannot find decent jobs. They live on welfare grants and are engaged in unscrupulous activities just to keep body and soul together.
The question is: For how long will this be the fault of the apartheid system? For how long will we keep playing the race card that damages our social cohesion initiative?
Every tourist wants to take something away from the country visited to make their visit memorable. Honestly speaking, the celebration and commemoration of our important days such as 16 June, Human Rights Day, and those celebrating other important historical events, remain divided along racial lines. Cope therefore urges the department to act with the necessary speed to address this challenge. We cannot continue to politicise these important national events.
Whatever the reasons the President had for putting the party ahead of the nation, the youth of South Africa have vowed never to attend Youth Day celebrations again. One young person from Bloemfontein was quoted as saying, "It's meaningless. It's a waste of my precious time." He was not alone. A furious young woman from Polokwane believes Youth Day in 2011 was a waste of her bloody time and she regretted travelling to Soweto. The majority of young people are extremely despondent.
Given the historical inequalities in our society, deracialising arts and culture activities is a challenging task. However, Cope supports the plan to hold a provincial dialogue that will culminate in a national dialogue on social cohesion.
The roots of our society's inequality in terms of class and race are so deep that even the social cohesion programme finds it difficult to heal the wounds. Whites are always reminded of the brutality of apartheid while, on the other hand, blacks are reminded of their revolutionary duty not to forget. Public and school libraries are the key facilities where young people can receive knowledge to bolster their education. Libraries are more than buildings where books are kept. They can be the nerve centre of the community, where young and old can socialise and learn. Cope challenges the Department of Arts and Culture to conduct a serious audit of libraries that have been built and that are in the process of being built.
Cope therefore supports the budget. Thank you.