Chairperson, members of this House, the policy of the department is aimed at contributing to growth, employment, poverty alleviation, national reconciliation, nation-building and social coherence. As we are in a recession and hundreds of thousands of people are out of work, it is natural for the House to be interested in seeing how the department has contributed to employment creation and poverty alleviation. Has it shifted up a gear in the past few months to accelerate growth in the number of jobs and improve poverty alleviation to counter the suffering of our people?
We must also not forget that the department has developed a detailed plan and programme of activities building up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup in order to focus on performing visual and literacy arts and on legacy and heritage. This means that the department has been attending to the problem of poverty and the lack of jobs. This should result in at least a four-fold increase in job opportunities than is normally the case.
The world of arts is inspired by imagination. The Department of Arts and Culture therefore should be the most creative of all government departments. Now that our economy is in crisis, the department should be coming to the fore with innovative ideas.
One of the department's core functions is to promote social coherence through arts and culture. This is a fantastic goal. What are the outputs thereof? Thank you.