Hon Chairperson of the NCOP, hon Minister of Arts and Culture, hon Deputy Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, members of this august House, ladies and gentlemen, policy priorities for 2011-12 devote particular attention to job creation, skills development and building a unified nation. My input on Budget Vote 14 seeks to address how the budget is aligned to meeting the policy priorities set out in the state of the nation address. In delivering the state of the nation address, President Zuma encouraged government departments to align their programmes with the job creation initiative and skills development. Therefore, skilling in arts and culture remains a priority.
It is against this background that I will reflect on matters which underpin the mandate of the Department of Arts and Culture, and find expression in the department's documents, namely: skills development in relation to arts and crafts; budget; nation-building and national cohesion; investing in culture; legacy projects for the youth; language; and the name changes.
In regard to skills development, the department plans to build a national creative industrial skills academy that will provide a platform for artists to perfect their skills. This will also contribute to the New Growth Path.
However, the question is how the National Skills Academy will link with the existing arts centres in the provinces, for example the North West Mmabana Cultural Foundation. Also, how will it be cascaded down to the local level and still produce stars such as we find today. Many of them are currently in the entertainment industry, such as the award-winning Presley Chweneyagae, Keabetswe Motsilanyane, known as "KB", and modern dancers Tebogo and Kagiso, who are products of the North West Mmabana Cultural Foundation.
The department continues to promote the development of the economic potential of cultural industries for job creation, poverty reduction, and skills transfer through the programme, known as Investing in Culture. The objectives of the Investing in Culture subprogrammes are: to provide empowerment opportunities for unemployed people; job creation and training; small business development; and broad-based black economic empowerment.
The worrying factor is that most of our artists are not organised. We would like the department to come up with programmes that will encourage people in this sector to form organisations, unions and, in particular, co- operatives, which will protect them against exploitation by well established companies. For instance, in rural areas and small towns women and men do beadwork and crafts, and sell them to big companies for literally nothing. This is due to a lack of management skills and industrial knowledge. To this day our musicians and actors also remain exploited, due to their fragmentation.
We are happy to note that the department has renewed its funding model and reconceptualised its structures, which will have a positive impact on the aforementioned objectives of this programme. We must recall that poor monitoring of projects under this programme has led to a decrease in the budget allocation from R131,2 million in 2010-11 to R119 million in 2011- 12, this financial year, due to an unfavourable forensic audit.
In regard to legacy projects, as we celebrate Youth Month we should be investing in the youth of South Africa as our legacy. The essence of leaving a legacy is not immediate individual gain. It is a collective effort to make certain that others are empowered, even though we may not reap the fruit of our efforts in our lifetimes. Yes, the greatest legacy is to impart knowledge to others.
Therefore we should not only be seen to be celebrating 16 June, but also have programmes that will empower the youth economically. Through the Investing in Culture programme we should be able to divert a certain percentage of the allocated budget to youth projects. It is noteworthy that even the department's own strategic plan is silent on youth projects to be implemented. No details are shared as to which and how many projects relating to young people will be undertaken during the current financial year.
Under nation-building and national identity, according to Zandile Kunene- Mbeje at the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance, social cohesion refers to those factors that have an impact on the ability of society to be united for the attainment of a common goal.
The department has strategies to ensure celebration and commemoration of national days to bring about social cohesion, but we still see racial divisions on these days. In certain instances, the days do not have a meaning to some, and are not worth observing. There is nothing wrong with the fact that people celebrate differently, but we should all value the days. One question to ask is: When are we going to break these racial barriers? We can achieve this by changing the way we do things, like taking rallies or activities to predominantly white areas, but also by taking into consideration our diversity in culture.
At times one wonders whether we are serious about nation-building. I am asking this question because, as we are all aware, the Department of Arts and Culture should be leading in this. It worries me to note that some provincial departments are budgeting for different activities which are attended by different racial group. We should discourage these kinds of practices, as this divides the nation even further.
Let me also take this opportunity to appeal to the private sector to contribute positively towards nation-building, so that we can achieve a rainbow nation in its totality. Together we can achieve this goal.
We should encourage the department to work closely with provincial departments so as to broaden the approach to the project of nation-building and social cohesion. Instead of focusing mainly on public holiday celebrations, more work could be done to foster unity through practical activities and other public platforms.
In regard to languages, South Africa is a multilingual country. The country's Constitution guarantees equal status to 11 official languages to cater for South Africa's diverse peoples and their cultures. In order to achieve this the department has a programme called the National Language Service, which aims to promote access to services and information for all citizens in the official languages of their choice and to promote the use of all official languages. The budget allocation for this programme has increased from R94 million to R101 million in this financial year.
Seeing that we still have a challenge in promoting indigenous languages, due to a lack of relevant reading materials, a shortage of educators in this field, and community libraries which are not well equipped and easily accessible, we call upon the department to see to it that citizen participation is in the true sense and not just window-dressing. Let there be enough mobilisation of the communities to take part when these initiatives are taken, so that they can have a sense of ownership and benefit from the projects.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended the renaming of geographical features as a form of symbolic reparation to address South Africa's past, as many of the existing names of geographic features were not reflective of South Africa's society and its quest for national unity.
Geographical names committees have been established in all nine provinces. Those committees play an important role in standardising geographical names. The issue of name changes has created many challenges, and in some instances we have seen municipalities being taken to court, resulting in huge financial loss as a result of legal processes and hardened attitudes. It is therefore, critical for the department to clearly outline strategies in place to address these challenges. It is also important for the committees to engage communities in this regard by mobilising and educating them in regard to the processes that are being followed in regard to name changes.
Regarding national symbols, it is important that South Africans know and understand the signs that appear on the national coat of arms, which was launched on Freedom Day, 27 April 2000. It is also of the utmost importance to teach the public about other symbols which are not usually mentioned, for example the national bird, national flower, national fish, and so on.
The community library conditional grant is intended to attract non-readers to libraries by using 21st century gadgets that are most loved by the youth. The youth will get a range of tools and skills which will ultimately give them the edge in order to effectively participate in the workplace.
The other objective of this grant is to transform urban and rural library infrastructure, facilities and services, targeting previously disadvantaged communities through recapitalised programmes at local and provincial government level. The budget for this programme has increased from R512,7 million in 2010-11 to R543,4 million in the current financial year.
However, we must indicate that with regard to conditional grants ... [Time expired.] [Laughter.]