Agb Adjunkspeaker en kollegas, begrotingspos 14 van die Departement Kuns en Kultuur mag nie lig geskat word nie. Dit is hierdie begrotingspos wat ons moet gebruik om 'n diverse kulture bymekaar te bring om so een trotse nasie te word. Die DA het dit dan ook so bespreek.
Met die vordering wat die Minister en sy departement op verskeie terreine bereik het, wens ons hulle geluk. Gegewe die geleentheid om vanoggend ons kwellinge met die Minister en sy departement te bespreek, glo en hoop ons dat die ouditeursverslag van die departement volgende jaar meer positief sal wees.
Die DA kan egter nie hierdie begrotingspos ondersteun nie, as gevolg van die volgende: alhoewel dit 'n nuwe departement is, bestaan dit al twee jaar en die vorige jaar het die ouditeurverslag net so sleg gelyk. Daar was maar slegs vier uit 25 publieke entiteite wat ongekwalifiseerde ouditeursverslae van die Ouditeur-generaal ontvang het. Die onbestede allokasies en die feit dat die Nasionale Kunsteraad na 18 maande nog steeds nie aangestel is nie - en ek weet die Minister is daarmee besig - is vir ons onaanvaarbaar. (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)
[Mrs D VAN DER WALT: Hon Deputy Speaker and colleagues, Budget Vote 14 of the Department of Arts and Culture cannot be taken lightly. It is this Budget Vote that we will have to use to unite diverse cultures in order to become one proud nation. So, the DA also discussed it with that in mind.
We congratulate the Minister and his department on the progress made in the various fields. Given the opportunity we have this morning to discuss our concerns with the Minister and his department, we believe and hope that the auditor's report of this department will be more positive next year.
However, the DA cannot support this Budget Vote, because of the following: Although it is a new department, it is in its second year of existence and the auditor's report for the previous year looked just as bad. There were only four of the 25 public entities that received unqualified auditor's reports from the Auditor-General. The unspent allocations are unacceptable, and the fact that the National Arts Council has not yet been appointed after 18 months - and I know that the Minister is busy with it - is unacceptable to us.]