Hon Chair, please allow me to apologise for not wearing a proper shirt and tie. We were required to dress like this in Cabinet today.
Allow me to thank hon Mncube for asking a question about what we are doing and whether we have plans to assist artists and encourage them to save. Only when they pass on from this world do we learn that most of our reputable artists sometimes had huge challenges regarding their wellbeing.
Last year we introduced a new strategy called the Mzansi Golden Economy. This strategy focuses on how we can use the arts, culture and heritage to drive economic growth and therefore create necessary employment in this sector to improve the livelihoods of people there, particularly artists. The strategy looks at the production of cultural products in the sector, their distribution and consumption, and also the question of skills.
We know that most of our artists rely on the fact that they have natural talent. We have therefore taken a decision to introduce a skills academy for the arts where most of our artists can be trained so that they can become the best in the industry.
We are also focusing on music and cultural precincts, and are supporting cultural precincts in all provinces, where our artists have opportunities to perform.
We have recently facilitated an agreement between the Association of Independent Record Companies and the SABC, which will allow our artists to produce CDs with local content so that they can get involved in generating a lot of revenue.
We are also involved a lot in pushing heritage projects and making sure that our artists are benefiting in that respect. So that is the strategy we have in place.
We have also had a discussion with the Creative Workers Union of South Africa. The union approached us on the issue of how we could ensure that artists had some kind of skill. We know that the problem with artists is that they are not full-time employees; most of their activities are part- time. They go and do a show, and for the next two months they don't have another show, so they wait. This means that they cannot join medical and pension schemes. We are having discussions with the Creative Workers Union of South Africa and with Old Mutual to see if we can come up with some sort of scheme that can assist in this regard. That process is still unfolding.
So in brief, we do have plans, and they are currently unfolding.
I must say that we were also able to get additional resources from National Treasury to implement the Mzansi Golden Economy strategy. We believe we are going to generate a lot of employment in this sector in the long run and this will benefit many of our artists. Thank you.
Department's stance on removal of statues that are reminders of apartheid system
36. Ms B V Mncube (ANC) asked the Minister of Arts and Culture:
Whether his department will consider removing certain statues that are reminders of the apartheid system (details furnished) and put them in museums as part of the South African history; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? CO277E
Thank you very much, Chair. This question is also from hon Mncube. Statues or monuments in our public life depict the history of the country. Therefore, we have no intention to remove all of them, because they are part of our history, as I have said. I know that the history of South Africa is good and bad. It's good and bad in the sense that we come from a divided past. There will be those who will be offended by particular statues, and so on.
Our approach is that if a statue has to be removed, there has to be a due process of consultation in that particular institution or in the community in regard to the fact that the statue needs to be removed or replaced. Once due process has taken place, we will then consider the matter. This is the same approach that we use for geographic names in various communities. Communities themselves must be able to consider these changes.
In many respects communities are doing that. For instance, yesterday I was in Gugulethu. I've been in Gugulethu many times, but I didn't know what the meaning of NY1 or NY2 was. When I was there, I asked them what the meaning of this was. They said that it meant "Native Yard". The community has now taken a decision that they want to change the names in Gugulethu. The matter is serving before the council of Cape Town. I'm told that there is unanimous support for this process.
Really, it's the communities that now have an opportunity to deal with this. If the community feels that a statue that is in their area or their institution does not really reflect their culture or their interests, they may embark on a due process to request that it be removed. What we are doing as Arts and Culture now is to build new museums and new monuments so that we can have a balanced history, because many of the monuments that were created during the apartheid years reflected mainly apartheid history. Therefore, we need to create that balance.
Yes, in certain instances we will consider replacing these, but we don't want just to have an all-out programme to remove all the statues from the past in our public spaces. Thank you very much.
Hon Minister, you spoke in general. However, there was a specific question in regard to the Louis Botha statue that is outside Parliament. If you talk about the community agreeing to something, I would like to say that we must introduce this in the parliamentary processes. Thank you.
My apologies. However, my question doesn't talk about Louis Botha - maybe somebody edited that out.
What I can say is that that statue is within the precincts of Parliament. It's not the decision of the executive to change it, but it must be that of Parliament. Once Parliament has come together to say that it needs changes, then we as the executive can assist. I think that it would be incorrect for a Cabinet Minister to come and change symbols in Parliament. Can I leave that to Parliament? Parliament includes the NCOP. I think that there should be consultation by all parties and that decision must then be made. Once Parliament has agreed on this, we will make space in one of our museums to keep the statue of Louis Botha there. It can't start from the executive. Thank you very much.
Chair, I wonder if the Minister has considered this matter, or whether there is any plan in his department to erect a monument or a statue in Kroonstad for Rev Z R Mahabane. I see that all over the country statues are going up for leaders, but it seems to me that Rev Z R Mahabane has been forgotten. Can the Minister give the answer? Thank you very much.
Order, hon Bloem. I request members to be brief - just ask the question. This is a new question basically and I'm not sure whether the Minister is prepared to take the question.
Yes, indeed it's a new question but we do have a heritage programme that is unfolding, and that will also cover Rev Mahabane.
Chair and hon Minister, I would like to ask a question about the statement you made that it is Parliament that needs to decide on the statue. In your opinion does it mean that Parliament has to make amendments to our current legislation? This is because one has to see what the legislation in relation to this is. I think that in principle you are right that the statues reflect our previous history. The history of the new South Africa after 1994 is not reflected widely enough by way of statues. We are addressing a very important point. In my opinion, I think that legislation also needs to be amended, apart from placing statues much more widely than the statues normally are currently. Of course, we have to start in Parliament and I agree with you there. Thank you.
I haven't looked at what legislation requires, but we can do so.
Implications of cultural agreement between Spain and South Africa for provincial departments of arts and culture
49. Mr J M Bekker (DA) asked the Minister of Arts and Culture:
Whether the recent cultural agreement between Spain and South Africa specifies any involvement of the provincial departments of arts and culture; if not, why not; if so, to what extent will this agreement (a) involve such departments and (b) benefit local governments?