Hon Chairperson, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, and distinguished guests, today we deliver our Budget Vote in the year in which we celebrate 16 years of democracy and freedom in our country.
Speaking in his state of the nation address, President Jacob Zuma declared that 2010 would be the year of action. He stated that - The defining feature of this government will be that it knows where our people live, understands what their needs are and will respond faster. We will not allow a distance to arise between government and its people.
The arts, culture and heritage portfolio seeks to bring government closer to the people, and the people closer to us.
In October 2009, we reached a milestone by holding the National Social Cohesion Colloquium with the theme, "Building a Caring Society" in Durban on 29 to 30 October 2009. This gathering, attended by academics, civil society, government officials and other stakeholders laid the ground for the national conference that will be held later this year.
The colloquium raised issues around intergenerational dynamics and the need to reconcile parental authority with children's rights. Concerns were also raised about the gender relations between men and women within the home and the community. Delegates argued that there cannot be social cohesion without social justice, and they stressed the need to fully address the legacies of the past, as the inequalities created by the apartheid system impoverished most of the black people in our communities.
The colloquium also raised the need for the inculcation of a charter of positive values as well as the consolidation of the project for moral regeneration.
The Department of Arts and Culture is preparing to hold provincial dialogues on social cohesion to precede the conference to be held later this year. A highlight of our engagement with the creative sector last year was the imbizo organised by my department and led by President Zuma and relevant Cabinet Ministers. It was conducted with the performing arts sector on 17 November 2009.
The cultural industries were one of the critical areas prioritised by President Zuma and our Cabinet colleagues when they addressed the artists at the imbizo. The department is, therefore, embarking on the mapping of creative industries in order to reposition and mainstream creative industries into the broader government goals.
As part of a research and industry mapping exercise, the department is also partnering with the UK, and engaging key stakeholders in their skills development arena.
In a visit undertaken by Deputy Minister Mashatile to the UK, he also extended a provisional invitation to the leadership of the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills to visit South Africa and provide guidance on the development of the envisaged South African academy. The Department of Arts and Culture is in the process of finalising an agreement with the European Commission on calling for proposals on youth empowerment programmes through arts, culture and heritage. This will see the acceleration of skills development and empowerment for the youth in partnership with the European Commission.
An important issue is the matter of social security for artists. We are hard at work, together with the artists' union, other stakeholders and the private sector to find solutions to this critical priority.
With regard to music, on the broad international front, this year South Africa was also chosen as the country of honour at March International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale, Midem, the annual music market held in France every year The department supported the participation of many musicians and emerging independent music producers in this event.
At a special ceremony, hosted by the French Minister of Culture and Communication, Minister Frdric Mitterrand, prominent artists Caiphus Semenya and Letta Mbulu received French national arts and culture honours, for their excellent and long-standing contribution to the global music industry.
Both Caiphus Semenya and Letta Mbulu were awarded the National Order of Ikhamanga in silver last year, by President Jacob Zuma. This year, Hugh Masekela and Jonas Gwangwa were awarded the National Order of Ikhamanga in gold on Freedom Day, 2010. Miss Emelia "Nothembi" Mkhwebane was also awarded an Order of Ikhamanga in bronze by the President, also on Freedom Day.
At the forthcoming 22nd African Festival in Wrzburg, Germany, in May this year, South Africa is to be the country of honour and will be given a prominent status. My Ministry will lead a delegation of artists, including musicians Jonas Gwangwa, Don Laka, Vusi Mahlasela and Lira, amongst many others. It is a very large African festival with an attendance of over 100 000 - the biggest in Europe. A South African musician will also be honoured at that festival by Germany.
On 28 April 2010, I inaugurated the Downtown Music Hub board, following the purchase of Downtown Studios by my predecessor, Dr Pallo Jordan. Downtown Studios was purchased from Avusa in the 2009-10 financial year, and we have ensured that the music hub will be a music heritage centre as well as a state-of-the-art, local content music production hub that will produce high- quality content for the marketplace.
Under the able stewardship of Don Laka as the chairperson of the board, assisted by Nothemba Mlonzi, this music hub will be central towards supporting independent music creators and producers in terms of business investment.
My department has continued to support the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, also known as Africa's grandest gathering. This event has now, over the years, been able to host an audience of over 32 000. This festival provides a great opportunity for South African musicians to perform together with their international counterparts and makes a huge contribution to the local economy and tourism in the city, the province and also nationally.
Workshops are also organised for young, emerging musicians, cultural journalists and technicians. We are pleased that the SABC has announced that there will be 100% local content for three months coinciding with the World Cup this year. [Applause.] But we demand that this is not enough; it should be taken beyond this three-month period, and we are saying we expect at least 70% local content for our artists.
In pursuit of the objective of making the Fifa World Cup a truly South African and African experience, I have engaged with the Creative Workers Union of South Africa, CWUSA, and the Local Organising Committee, LOC, together with Fifa representatives to ensure that we showcase the vast talent of South African and African artists, so they should be well represented at all the arts and culture components of the Fifa World Cup. Thus far, our meetings have borne fruit and we shall continue to engage and ensure that our voices are heard through our actions and interaction to ensure that we achieve a lasting legacy for arts on the African continent. The Department of Arts and Culture, DAC, delivered a grand Confederations Cup at both the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as a superb show at the final draw in December in Cape Town last year. This provided you with a preview of the ceremonies to come, which are being organised to be one of our greatest spectacles.
The department is supporting the arts and culture component, especially of the opening and closing ceremonies. I would like to thank the task team, which I appointed, for their sterling work in helping to prepare the artistic programme, including for the final draw that was held in December as well as the arts and culture programme for the 2010 World Cup.
The public viewing areas, PVAs, which are government-supported, are an important milestone, allowing the public access to view the games on large screens. A tapestry of all the disciplines of arts and culture will be displayed and performed at these PVAs.
The African Village, which is the welcome venue situated in Ekurhuleni Metro, will host the African qualifying countries, popularly known as the "African Six-Pack", and will showcase the best that these countries have to offer in the arts and culture sector. The exhibition will centre around cuisine, fashion, books and our arts and crafts.
A build-up to this exciting cultural tournament programme will be the Gauteng Carnival that will be taking place from 4 to 6 June, and the Africa Day celebrations on 29 May that will also be held in Gauteng. The Africa Day concert will showcase the African countries' most celebrated artists. Other provinces will host similar events in their PVAs, including African artists.
The overarching message of DAC is to use this World Cup as a platform to instil in the country our social cohesion and nation-building programme. This has found expression through the Fly the Flag for Football campaign and the national anthem, which have made a definite impact throughout the country.
Last Saturday saw the national finals of the My 2010 School Adventure project, which helps, through arts and culture, to conscientise learners about their history, heritage and the role of the arts. This project has also taught them to be good citizens before they are good hosts.
As part of this unifying aspect, the Department of Arts and Culture has propagated multilingualism and has launched various technology lexicons. In the 2009-10 financial year, the primary and secondary term-creation phases of the soccer terminology project were distributed electronically to soccer commentators for both radio and television, soccer fans and linguists.
Another important and exciting outcome is the creation of a centre of African excellence in performance arts at the Windybrow Theatre, where a new artistic director was recently appointed to stage performance arts from throughout Africa. The theatre has been refurbished to stage Africa's outstanding artistic work in preparation for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
We also plan to put out an entertainment guide advising visitors, tourists and citizens of the cultural and heritage shows and sights available in each of the host cities. Afrika ke nako! [Africa, now is the time!]
On the subject of legislation, the department will, in the course of this year, submit four Bills for our legislative programme. These will not only help us implement recommendations for the policy review process, but will also effect constitutional imperatives for our department. The Bills include the Cultural Laws Third Amendment Bill, the South African Community Library and Information Services Bill, the South African Language Practitioners' Council Bill, and the South African Languages Bill to effect multilingualism.
With regard to films, we are pleased to announce that we have decided to support the National Film and Video Foundation, NFVF, to the amount of R10 million. This grant will help them to set up co-operatives in rural areas and townships, and will also ensure that we focus on bringing cinema to our people and develop skills in areas related to film production, acting and film directing.
We keenly wish to see South Africa attain further success in the film industry, as the value chain benefits a wide number of businesses and creates many jobs. We have also supported the Durban Film Festival where a number of training programmes and workshops have been held for producers, directors, cinematographers and various technicians in the sector.
As part of our ongoing cultural collaborations with the global community, we are proud to report that South Africa will finally be signing a film coproduction treaty with the French Republic. We are also working on signing agreements on film coproduction with Australia, as well the Republic of Ireland, in the year ahead.
In terms of design, the Department of Arts and Culture continues to unleash talent, ensuring that our design sector grows and is able to participate with the best in the world. The epitome in this regard is Fashion Fusion, a programme initiated by the Department of Arts and Culture. It was highlighted during the SA Fashion Week.
Its aim is to pair the creativity of rural-based crafters with leading fashion designers to produce sustainable products sold in leading stores nationwide and globally. This programme has not only opened up job opportunities, but has taken fashion design to greater heights.
This year's national Heritage Month celebrations will focus on the contribution of South Africa's living human treasures in the preservation and transmission of living heritage. In this way, we hope to highlight the contribution of communities and individuals who possess the highest degree of knowledge and skills required to sustain livelihoods through generations.
This year, for the first time, the Department of Arts and Culture will be holding the South African Arts and Culture Awards on Heritage Day, 2010. This will cover arts and culture disciplines such as craft, dance, fashion, design, visual arts, music, literature, theatre and film, as well as special categories to honour those who have become our living legends.
The South African craft industry continues to make headway in terms of building an export market, with two exhibitions recently mounted outside the country. These include the Connection Arts and Crafts Exhibition at the Borges Cultural Centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina and a craft exhibition at the 2nd Pan-African Cultural Festival in Algeria late last year, both of which provided exposure to different markets for our crafters.
Crafters also had a chance to exhibit in Nigeria at the 10-year anniversary of South Africa-Nigeria relations, which was a great success. Our crafts were also exhibited in Cuba. We also mounted a crafts exhibition at Havana's Africa House in December 2009, which will be there forever, with many other African countries are exhibiting in that museum.
The theme for Heritage Month last year was "Celebrating our crafts, celebrating our national heritage". An exhibition of the crafts of Limpopo was displayed. In a public-private partnership launched during Heritage Month last year, the Department of Arts and Culture, together with Old Mutual, offered crafts entrepreneurs trying to set up businesses a highly competitive interest rate for the first five years and sound business advice and further assistance.
The Department of Arts and Culture is also participating in the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, China, the theme of which is "Better City, Better Life". We are showcasing the vibrancy of South African cities and urban cultures. A Department of Arts and Culture crafts exhibition, "Beautiful Things", is being mounted at the expo. This expo, which started this month, will end in October 2010.
During this period we are also sending some of our leading women artists to participate in a Women's Day event on 9 August. We are also going to celebrate Mandela Day on 18 July in Shanghai when many top and emerging musicians will perform at a concert at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. There will also be a parade and special activities at the pavilion. We are one of 180 countries participating at this expo which is expected to draw over 70 million visitors from all over the world.
The department will be hosting a national cultural diplomacy conference in Pretoria from 20 to 22 May 2010, in collaboration with the Department of International Relations and Co-operation. The event will attract some leading cultural figures, intellectuals, academics and artists to deliberate on the formation of cultural diplomacy policy for South Africa in the 21st century.
South Africa also hosted the 4th World Summit on Arts and Culture, held in Newtown Johannesburg from 22 to 25 September 2009. It was hosted by the National Arts Council of South Africa, supported by the Department of Arts and Culture. The fact that this 4th world summit took place on African soil afforded a large delegation from the continent a chance to attend and participate in this world event.
An African chapter of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies, IFACCA, was set up in Harare on 30 April this year.
The Department of Arts and Culture recently hosted a televised breakfast session to launch The African Artists for Haiti Initiative. Significantly, this happened on the 100th day after the earthquake disaster that devastated that country. The aim of the initiative is not to only use arts and culture to raise funds but also to raise consciousness and awareness, and to galvanise the artistic sector and the general public to continue to come up with concrete contributions that will ensure that we make the quality of life of the people of Haiti better.
We are pleased that representatives of the Gift of the Givers are also in this House today; they have contributed immensely in mobilising assistance for the people of Haiti. [Applause.]
Haiti was the first republic established by people of African descent more than 200 years ago. They were slaves who liberated themselves and inspired all Africans of the continent and the diaspora to fight for their freedom. It signifies the epic movement of African people towards liberation and self-determination.
I want to talk about an important aspect of our work this year: the recovery and repatriation of South African cultural heritage items. Mr Giuseppe Ciucci, a South African businessman of the Stonehage Group, who acquired the flag on auction in London and returned it to South Africa, is represented here today by Mr Koos Rossouw, who is present in the House.
I want to thank him for his public-spiritedness and his patriotism. This is the flag that flew during the inauguration of former President Nelson Mandela. [Applause.] As we can all see, it was signed by President Mandela and the then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and President F W De Klerk.
It is part of our history and our heritage. [Applause.] I again want to thank Mr Ciucci for showing great patriotism by ensuring that he bought this flag at the auction in London and brought it back home. [Applause.]
I must also thank Col Jaco Klopper, who was one of the pilots who flew the helicopters for the inauguration. He supplied the department with invaluable information, which enabled us to act swiftly in this matter. The recovery of the Freedom Charter was also only possible due to the generosity and public-spiritedness of many people and organisations.
We would also like to thank the Liliesleaf Trust for their role in this regard. Tomorrow we shall be hosting a handover ceremony in which the Deputy President, hon Kgalema Motlanthe, will receive the Freedom Charter on behalf of our government and our nation. [Applause.] The recovery of the Freedom Charter, signed by Chief Albert Luthuli and the congress alliance leaders, has been a victory against those who wish to steal our precious heritage items.
We commend the National Archives and South African Heritage Resources Agency, Sahra, for refusing permission for artworks of outstanding significance to be exported out of our country. [Applause.]
These works include The Harvesters by George Pemba. Here is The Harvesters and The Landscape, also by George Pemba. [Applause.]
These paintings were also about to be sold with the flag in London and our thanks go to the chief executive officer of Sahra, Mrs Sibongile Van Damme, who refused to give permits for the export of these beautiful pieces of art. These pieces by George Pemba were painted in protest against the Natives' Land Act, Act 27 of 1913 and, as we can see, they actually signify the importance of the use of the land for our people. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. [Applause.]
Over the coming year the National Archives and Sahra will focus on ensuring that we make certain amendments that will be addressed by my department, as a matter of urgency. The rescue of these iconic items of our heritage has highlighted the gaps that we have in our legislation, and I wish to assure the House that my department is addressing these as a matter of great urgency.
Certain amendments to the South African Heritage Resources Act, Act 25 of 1999, will be made in the Cultural Laws Third Amendment Bill. These are intended to close the loopholes currently being used by commercial concerns outside our country to loot our cultural heritage.
Over the coming year the National Archives will focus on digitising audio recordings in the Rivonia Trial collection. We intend to partner in this delicate and highly technical task with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, because the Rivonia Trial records are now listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. [Applause.]
The Republic of Korea will be hosting an exhibition based on collections listed in the Memory of the World Register, and South Africa will be showcasing the Rivonia Trial records in this exhibition.
Plans are afoot to have an annual Dulcie September memorial lecture hosted jointly by the department and the University of the Western Cape in this financial year. We intend inviting African writers to the event, which will celebrate women's writing of the same period. The Ministry has also been invited to the annual commemoration at the Dulcie September High School by the Mayor of Arcueil in France.
Following my undertaking last year to celebrate the significant role of South African women, Sahra has initiated the public consultation process for the grading and declaration of the graves of Charlotte Maxeke, Lillian Ngoyi and Helen Joseph, by consulting the families and critical and interested stakeholders. The whole process will be completed by July 2010, and I will make a public announcement during Women's Month in August 2010 to celebrate the role of women in establishing South Africa's democracy.
South Africa was chosen, once again, as the market focus country at the recent London Book Fair which took place from 19 to 21 April. This honour provided an ideal opportunity to showcase South African authors, publishers, booksellers and libraries. The unprecedented situation arising from the Icelandic volcano prevented most of our delegates and me from attending this important event.
I would like to thank Ambassador or High Commissioner Skweyiya for ably representing us at this gathering. However, because of the unavoidable lost opportunities, further visits are being organised that will ensure that the South African book sector can showcase our achievements both in Edinburgh and in Hay-on-Wye later this year.