Chair, I'm not a member of this portfolio committee and I haven't been for the longest time. Hon Minister, I assume you could be just a little out of your comfort zone as well at this time, so I am hoping you will all be a little lenient with me. I'm not informed by the committee, but by constituents.
The ACDP would like to start by paying tribute to the life of Nadine Gordimer. She was recognised as a woman who, in the words of Alfred Nobel, "through her magnificent epic writing has been of very great benefit to humanity". The ACDP salutes her and extends condolences to her family.
Hon Minister you are just the champion Arts and Culture needs for a very special mission at the heart of all things cultural and arty: the removal of value-added tax on books. Government, on the one hand, is encouraging the nation to read through education initiatives, but, on the other hand, is discouraging people from reading by adding value-added tax to the cost of books.
So the ACDP welcomes the Minister's comments on a tax review. In many countries, tax systems are actually set up to encourage corporations and individuals to financially support the arts. All we have to do, hon Minister, is convince the commission and the Treasury to make private contributions to the arts tax deductible, and then actively encourage participation by corporations and individuals in funding such activities, especially in smaller centres.
The ACDP recognises that already the arts and culture sector makes a significant contribution to the nation's gross domestic product. We also recognise that it has the potential to do a great deal more if it had more financial support.
Some interesting suggestions to increase productivity range from budgets for health care and retirement provision for professional artists - whether performing on stage or painting canvasses - to budgets for departments to assist in creating industry-wide standards for all contractual documents in order to protect artists who are often so eager to work at their passion that they sign contracts with little thought given to the clauses and conditions in them.
Hon Minister, does any part of this budget speak to the fact that too many schools in this country do not have qualified teachers for such subjects and cannot afford to fund programmes? Does the department work with the Departments of Basic Education and of Higher Education and Training on these matters?
As the audiences and practitioners of the future will inevitably come from among today's students, an innovative programme providing grants for the nation's schools to bring in specialist practitioners in the arts may be a way forward, or by simply ensuring that the arts curriculum is actually taught effectively by the relevant specialist teachers in every school as a starting point.
The ACDP feels that providing funds to make certain that every South African child gets to attend at least a few performances a year of live music, theatre or dance - whether they go to the performers or the performers come to them - would be invaluable. Some countries, for example, manage to fund discounted tickets for all students within their borders.
Artists I am aware of that lead youth in music in the provinces, have, in their words, lost hope in the Department of Arts and Culture. The problem they say is that at the head office the head of the department has been suspended three times this year, and cultural officers at services points, they say, are clueless about anything to do with arts and culture. So, I'm asking if this is a problem that you are aware of, and, if you are, are there strategies for a turnaround in this? Actually, hon Minister, what they want to know is: What are you going to say to them?
The ACDP has a final request from stakeholders: that your department seeks to create conditions and structures for citizens to engage, as opposed to seeing arts and culture as a means of driving government's own agenda. The ACDP wishes you every success and we will be supporting this budget. [Time expired.] [Applause.]