Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon Members of Parliament and guests, ... le nzwakazi iphambi kwenu iyanibulisa namhlanje, inamkela kule ngxoxo-mpikiswano yolu hlahlo-lwabiwo-mali. [ ... this beautiful woman in front of you is greeting you today, welcoming you to this budget debate.]
The ANC takes as its starting point this clause from the Freedom Charter: "The people shall govern!" Democracy is more than electing representatives to power once every five years. It means empowering people, especially women, workers, youth and rural people, to participate in decision-making in order to strengthen democracy.
The Freedom Charter is the basic law of our liberation movement, a declaration of principles uniting all the people in our land. Currently, the Charter is the picture of a future South Africa, in which oppression and exploitation shall no longer be accepted and tolerated. It is a document to be treasured by all those who love freedom, for generations to come.
The Department of Arts and Culture has repositioned itself. It is no longer a department that just fosters social cohesion and nation-building. It has shifted its focus to contributing to economic development and growth. Often people are not aware that the creative industry not only brings people together, but also puts bread on the table for those who are hungry. In fact, the creative industry contributes to the economy.
That is why it is important for the department to work with the National Youth Development Agency, NYDA, so that the youth can ensure that they are empowered, employed and skilled. As we speak about youth economic freedom in our lifetime, we think about ... [Inaudible.] This is what the department is going to do.
To achieve this, during the ANC January 8 Statement and 2011 state of the nation address, President Zuma declared 2011 the year of job creation, and re-emphasised the need for government departments and the private sector to prioritise their programmes in line with the objectives of the New Growth Path, with the aim of promoting job creation, rural development, decent work and a better life for all.
The Department of Arts and Culture has already started to do so by hosting the historic National Consultative Conference on the role of the sector in promoting economic growth and job creation, which was held in Turbine Hall, Newtown, Johannesburg on 14 and 15 April 2011. The theme of the summit was Mzansi's Golden Economy. The conference discussed the way forward in highlighting and recognising the arts, culture and heritage sector in job creation and economic development.
The Department of Arts and Culture continues to contribute to South Africa's economic growth path by allocating funding to and investing in culture subprogrammes to contribute to job creation, poverty reduction, skills transfer, small business development and broad-based black economic empowerment, BBBEE.
It must be noted that the subprogramme received an unfavourable audit report during the previous financial year. However, the department has already implemented a new structure and funding model for the subprogramme to avoid possible failure.
Since 1994 the ANC government has done tremendously well in the transformation of the country as a whole, by being able to attract and host mega events such as the 2010 Fifa World Cup and the 1995 Rugby World Cup, to mention two.
Government tasked the Department of Arts and Culture to co-ordinate the 2010 Fifa World Cup arrangements, and indeed the event was a success. The department took the opportunity and used it as a platform to showcase and brand South Africa, and they did so successfully, in collaboration with the Department of Tourism and the Department of Sport and Recreation. The country managed to attract over 10 million international tourists last year, and that was good for economic growth.
The ANC government is fighting the stigma of apartheid of restricting people from travelling. It is bringing the cultures of the country to the fore and encouraging locals to explore their own country. This supports heritage and cultural tourism, which contributes to economic growth and job creation.
The ANC government continues to liberate and transform our country through programmes such as that on South African geographical name changes, which emanated from the SA Geographical Names Council Act, Act 118 of 1998. To this day we still live where there are names very openly displayed before our people, names that you cannot mention because they are still offensive. These are things that the department must transform speedily.
The department has a subprogramme named "International Co-operation". This subprogramme facilitates economic and other development opportunities for South African arts, culture and heritage, nationally and globally, through the mutually beneficial growth of the sector. The budget allocation for this subprogramme has increased from R32 million to R34 million in this financial year.
The department is engaging with international treaties in order to achieve the following: build international cultural partnerships; promote and celebrate South African arts and culture abroad; contribute to and promote the African cultural agenda by giving its support to the fostering of common African cultural policies; contribute to the strengthening of the global legal treaty framework for the promotion and protection of arts, culture and heritage - those are multilateral treaties; and facilitate all alternative sources of funding for the arts, including access to the Official Development Assistance, ODA.
The Minister of Arts and Culture has allocated R74 million to the National Film and Video Foundation to develop the local film industry and create employment opportunities, especially for young people, women and people living with disabilities. This subprogramme transfers funds to the National Film and Video Foundation in support of skills, local talent and local marketing development in South Africa's film and video industry. The primary legislative framework of this subprogramme emanates from National Film and Video Foundation Act. The programme's main objective is to uplift the local film industry by facilitating access to the international networking platform at markets, festivals and exhibitions.
The department has a programme named "Performing Arts". This programme was specifically established to develop and promote the performing arts and culture in South Africa, and mainstream their role in social development and heritage programmes that are informed. Mostly, the people who participate in these programmes are women, children, young people and people living with disabilities. This has started already, by establishing partnerships with provinces. The programme has been allocated R549 million to further support performing arts projects specifically focusing on film and video production.
The Minister of Arts and Culture has realised that there are challenges facing the film industry in South Africa. These challenges include the lack of a public film school in South Africa and thus young people have to go to private institutions, which become very expensive for them. It's therefore very important now for the Minister and the Minister of Higher Education to ensure that there is a school that is supported by the government and that belongs to the public, rather than having young people going to private schools. To address this challenge, the Minister of Arts and Culture wants to establish the first public film school in South Africa, which will be accessible to all communities, specifically targeting those communities that are unable to finance themselves in private film schools. [Applause.]
The Department of Arts and Culture, in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education, is in the process of establishing programmes in schools to encourage learners to participate in cultural and creative activities. The aim is to increase the learners' awareness that they can make a living out of these activities, rather than schools' only forcing learners to participate in sports activities.
Ngoba apha eMzantsi Afrika abantwana bayanyanzelwa ukuba bathabathe inxaxheba kwezemidlalo. Abantu abalingana nam abanamdla wokuthabatha inxaxheba kwezemidlalo ... [Here in South Africa children are forced to participate in sport. People of my age are not interested in participating in sport ...]
... but they are culturally creative, so by allowing them to take part in cultural activities, we prevent issues such as teenage pregnancy, HIV and Aids.
In the past, we used to have sketches and various cultural events. Now the Minister is bringing them back to the schools, in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education. [Applause.] The people who are most affected are the young people and that is why this programme is important.
The department is also supporting the National Heritage Council of South Africa in developing the Liberation Heritage Route Project, which is aimed at preserving and promoting the significant events, people and places that narrate the history of South Africa's liberation.
The overall mandate of the department is derived from the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
Lastly, I would like to thank all the stakeholders who participated in the Mzansi's Golden Economy Summit to reposition the arts and culture sector towards economic development and job creation.
I salute and commemorate the young people who stood up and fought so that we in this country could be free.
Yiloo nto ... [That is why ...]
... today we are together here, black and white. This is the fruit of democracy for which young people like Solomon Mahlangu and many others - you named many - died. Therefore we salute them, all the comrades, on this day and also those who stood up in Kliptown to make sure that the Freedom Charter united all of us as South Africans.
As I have said, this department is not only about arts and culture, but it is part of creating growth in the economy. That is why it's important for young people to work together with the department.