Chairperson, Minister of the Department of Arts and Culture, hon Paul Mashatile, hon Sunduza, hon Ministers, Deputy Ministers, hon members of the National Assembly, director- general, management and staff from the department, heads of various institutions of the Department of Arts and Culture, our lifeblood - the artists and the creative workers of our country who are with us this afternoon - ladies and gentlemen, comrades and friends - if we can define the DA as comrades then you are also appreciated - I would also like to add my appreciation for the way the chairperson is dressed today.
Let me also start by adding my condolences on the passing away of our comrade and colleague, former Minister and member of this House, Comrade Sicelo Shiceka. May his soul rest in peace. We will sorely miss him.
It is indeed a great honour and privilege for me to contribute to the debate on our budget for 2012-13. As my colleague, the Minister, and other colleagues from the ANC have already indicated, this year is a very important year for us, especially in arts, culture and heritage.
This is so because this is the year when we mark 100 years of the establishment of what I regard as an institution that became the cornerstone for the building of a free, nonracial and democratic South Africa, which we were able to start building in 1994. That institution is none other than the ANC.
While today we can say that the ANC is one of the parties here in this House; in our parliamentary system, it is not only one of the parties but is also the biggest of all the parties in Parliament. I must also remind members that for more than 82 years of its life this movement fought relentlessly for the freedom and democracy that we now often take for granted.
While we accept that there were many other political formations and civil society organisations that played a serious role in the struggle for freedom and democracy, there can be no argument that the founders of the ANC left us with an institution to unite, initially the African people, but later on all South Africans.
We would like to urge all hon members this year to set aside issues of political competition, especially since there is no election this year. You have nothing to fear, so please join us in celebrating the centenary of this heritage, the ANC. [Applause.]
It cannot be that while everybody on the continent of Africa, in the African diaspora and people elsewhere in the world as far flung as Washington, Beijing, and other parts of the world, are celebrating this momentous occasion, we in South Africa remain bickering about whether this is indeed a matter of national pride or just a matter of one political movement.
Having declared this centenary the year of unity in diversity, we are therefore strengthening the work of this department - that of building an inclusive society. Over the past 100 years, the world as a whole, and South Africa in particular, has come a long way in the struggle against all forms of racial prejudice, which has caused untold suffering for humanity across the globe. Who can forget that millions of people all over the world perished or were tortured and abused in the name of racial supremacy?
We in South Africa remained an outpost of this backward philosophy in the latter part of the 20th century. We must therefore never take for granted the foundations laid by our forebears deep in the belly of apartheid, when they gathered at Kliptown on 25 and 26 June 1955 and declared that South Africa belonged to all who lived in it, black and white. Let us also remember that by simply daring to declare this principle, 156 of the most senior leaders of the congress movement, including Chief Albert Luthuli, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Helen Joseph, Ahmed Kathrada and many others, were charged with high treason. They were charged for simply declaring that South Africa belong to all who lived in it.
For over four years many of them were either in jail, banished or dragged to court on a daily basis until the case collapsed in March 1960. It is in this regard that we must all be concerned, when the National Planning Commission notes the following in its National Development Plan:
South Africans have made progress since 1994 in uniting the country, yet society remains divided. Inequality and inequity continue. Opportunity continues to be defined by race, gender, geographic location, class and linguistic background.
The commission goes further to note:
Inequality hardens society into a class system, imprisoning people in the circumstances of their birth. Inequality corrodes trust among fellow citizens, making it seem as if the game is rigged.
A united and cohesive society is a critical precondition for peace, security and prosperity.
I agree with the NDP when it asserts that -
... nation-building and social cohesion matter - both as an end-state and as a facilitator.
In implementing our mandate of nation-building and promoting social cohesion, reconciliation and national healing, we continue to facilitate social dialogues among all sectors of our society.
These dialogues are conducted in order to strengthen efforts towards building a people-centred and caring society characterised by high levels of inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development.
As part of building social cohesion, last year alone we conducted 40 community conversations in eight of the provinces. Participants at these conversations expressed shared challenges of class distinction, language barriers and cultural intolerance. They also recommended that ordinary members of the community support and be involved in social cohesion projects.
It was also recommended that social cohesion be treated as a national priority with regular feedback and ongoing workshops on progress made in nation-building and promoting an inclusive society.
Hon members, we have taken on board the proposals made by our people. They will be included in the submissions to the National Social Cohesion Conference to be held in the second half of this year. In preparation for the conference, we have undertaken further research and produced a draft document for the development of a national strategy for building an inclusive and cohesive society. The document is being released for public comment and will be workshopped in all provinces, before being finalised and presented at the conference.
As noted by the National Development Plan, the lack of economic opportunities remains a serious threat to the achievement of a cohesive society. It is due to this understanding that over the last two state of the nation addresses, our reconstruction and development programme have focused the work of government on job creation and inclusive economic growth. Through our department's Mzansi Golden Economy strategy, we hope to contribute towards the national effort to reduce poverty, unemployment and inequality.
As we reported here in this house last year, our department remains charged with the responsibility of steering another imperative for our goal for national healing, reconciliation and nation-building, namely that of geographic name changes and standardisation.
As part of our restorative work, we recently held a national workshop on the standardisation of geographical names in Ekurhuleni. This workshop was part of efforts to build a national consensus on the process of standardisation of geographical names. The workshop attracted great public interest and enthusiastic attendance.
The workshop recommended, among other things, that there be greater co- operation between governments at all levels to enhance the processes related to the standardising of names.
Hon members, we will continue to guide our communities through their representative bodies and local authorities on how to deal with this essential yet sensitive matter of redressing one of the legacies of colonial and apartheid conquest, with its attendant ideological dominance. The matter which grabbed most of the attention, the renaming of our capital city, is receiving attention and will be resolved very soon.
In the area of languages, hon Chair and members, it is part of the process of healing the divisions of the past and the promotion of an inclusive citizenship that we need to ensure that all languages, especially indigenous languages, enjoy equal status.
The South African Languages Bill, which has been tabled in Parliament, is an attempt to elevate the status of indigenous languages and sign language. We have introduced the Bill in recognition of the reality that over many years their use was diminished and their status must now be upheld.
We trust that, once approved, this Bill will go a long way towards ensuring parity of esteem, as demanded by the Constitution, for all official languages and that it will allow our people to receive government services in the language of their choice. I can again assure hon members that Afrikaans is under no threat; no language is under any threat.
Hon members, as part of ensuring language promotion and development, the National Language Service has partnered with the North West University to develop machine translation systems for English to isiZulu, Setswana and Afrikaans respectively.
We are also developing similar systems for the other official languages. These systems assist translators in their work by expediting the translation process and ensuring quality and standardisation.
The existing systems are available for free through open-source software and are already in use by the National Language Service and freelance translators. The department is continuing to award bursaries for undergraduate studies in language practice.
This year Unisa, the University of Zululand, the Walter Sisulu University, the University of Johannesburg and the University of Limpopo are the beneficiaries of these bursaries.
A co-operation agreement signed last year between the department and the Dutch Language Union will bear fruit as projects in the field of human language technologies and the translation of children's literature in all the official languages take off this year.
Hon members, as far as strengthening our work in promotion and preservation of languages is concerned, we are in the process of appointing a new council for the Pan South African Language Board. [Applause.]
The Mzansi Golden Economy strategy focuses on advancing the economic potential of cultural and creative industries, in order that they can make a greater contribution to job creation, skills development and poverty reduction.
The book and publishing sector is the biggest contributor worldwide of all the cultural industries to the gross domestic product, GDP, of many countries. In this field, the department has created platforms that can develop a sustainable book industry.
In order to further promote a culture of reading and writing, our department, together with the National Library of South Africa, is implementing the third phase of its African Classics Publication programme with 22 new titles having been launched. The classics launched in terms of this initiative include Chaka by T Mofolo, UDingezweni by P T Metuse, and many others.
We congratulate South Africa's National Librarian, Mr John Tsebe, seated in the gallery, who has been chosen as chairperson of the Council for Directors of National Libraries, a council comprising all the heads of national libraries of the world that focuses on information exchange and the sustainability of library and information services, LIS, worldwide.
The Department of Arts and Culture has also funded the Indigenous Languages Publishing Programme, which is aimed at supporting small, independent publishers in publishing books by emerging writers in the nine indigenous languages. The first batch of publications was unveiled in September 2011, during the second National Book Week. Significantly, this project will continue to have a strong enterprise development thrust, while developing publishing in indigenous languages. The next National Book Week for 2012 will be held at the Red Location Museum precinct in Port Elizabeth, from 3 to 8 September. I hope hon Ngonyama will be there.
Hon members, as part of our work in preserving the stories of our nation, the National Archives, together with the Oral History Association of South Africa, hosted the National Oral History Conference in October 2011 in Mahikeng. More than 50 learners participated in training as part of the Schools Family History Project.
This year this conference will take place in the Free State through the initiatives and partnerships that the department is committed to expanding in 2013. We are encouraging ordinary people to document their local histories and to promote sustainable development of writing and reading, and in so doing ensuring that writing is recognised as a profession.
Hon members, as part of promoting the African agenda, together with the Windybrow Theatre, we will continue to hold the African Women Writers' Symposium. This symposium brings together women writers from the continent and diaspora to share best practice and promote excellence in women's writing. In conclusion, hon Chair, let me also congratulate those artists who participated in the South African Music Awards, the Samas, a few days ago. They really did our country proud. In particular, let's congratulate the young girl from the Eastern Cape, Bulelwa Mkutukana, popularly known as Zahara. We wish her all the best in developing her talent. Thank you. [Applause.]