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