Thank you, Chair. Hon Minister, colleagues and guests, I greet you. Ndi masiari avhu?i. [Good afternoon.]
The department's mandate is to develop and preserve South African arts and culture, through which we can ensure social cohesion and nation-building, which is critical for our country.
A zwi tei u dzhielwa fhasi sa izwi zwi zwa ndeme kha vhutshilo hashu, na uri zwa vhu?hogwa ndi uri ndi lushaka ?e lune ra ?o lu siela uvhu vhufa? [This is not to be taken lightly as it has an effect on our lives and, more importantly, what kind of society we shall bequeath this inheritance to.]
The DA stands firm on the issue of combating corruption. We therefore express our discontent with the fact that the Auditor-General's report reveals an irregular expenditure of R60 million in this department.
We also note the number of forensic audits that have been undertaken and have led to the dismissal of several employees of the department. The cost of these forensic audits is close to R2,5 million. We commend these audits.
It is our contention, however, that dismissals alone are just not sufficient. We therefore recommend that criminal charges be laid against those employees. Action against them should also include the forfeiture of all their ill-gotten assets.
It was pointed out by the Auditor-General that this department seems to have failed to adhere to basic requirements of the Public Finance Management Act. The noncompliance with regard to applicable legislation is not acceptable. The Auditor-General said that in this regard, and I quote:
The accounting officer did not ensure that the department has and maintains an effective, efficient and transparent system and controls regarding performance management which describes and represents, on a programme level, how the entity's processes of performance planning, monitoring, measurement, review and reporting will be conducted.
It is therefore no wonder that this department failed to meet some of its targets. More worrisome is the fact that the department could not furnish adequate reasons for failing to meet its targets and that 90% of the targets were not time bound in specifying the time period or deadline for delivery.
Such a state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue and measures must be taken urgently to fix this. Ri a fulufhela uri izwo zwi ?o dzhielwa n?ha ngauri ndi zwa vhu?hogwa nga maan?a. [We hope that these will be taken seriously because they are very important.]
It is encouraging to see that the department intends to start with the social dialogue and Bontle Ubuhle-Bethu programmes, which will be used to promote social cohesion.
We are also impressed by the savings that the department has identified in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework.
The department's infrastructure spending also needs a mention. The building of a new National Library in Pretoria and the completion of Freedom Park are commendable, as well as the commitment to upgrade the department's public entities.
I reiterate the call made by my colleague last year. It is important that the effort to develop and provide reading material in our indigenous languages should continue and be broadened, as language is one of the crucial elements in the effort to ensure social cohesion and nation- building and to develop arts and culture. Our public libraries need to be the focal point of these reading materials.
The establishment of the National Centre for Human Language Technologies by December and the production of nine sets of books in all official indigenous languages are targets worthy of praise.
Language diversity needs to be welcomed, as it showcases the richness of our cultural heritage. We therefore sadly note that the National Language Service seems to be continually getting the lowest budget.
The forensic investigation into the National Library of South Africa, which has been concluded, highlighted deficiencies and recommended an appropriate course of action to rectify such deficiencies. The forensic investigation cost the government and taxpayers R357 000. The question the DA and citizens of the country would like to ask is: Why is the Minister unwilling to reveal the outcome of the investigation? We cannot continue to wait for the director-general to decide when he will make up his mind. We need that information, hon Minister.
Hon Minister, your department's allocation under Programme 5 - which focuses mainly on assistance to museums - has its own problems. National museums do not get adequate funding from your department and resort to double-dipping. My question to the Minister, through you, Chair, is: Does your department purposely minimise funding to these institutions in order for them to get contributions and funding from the National Lottery Board?
If this is the case, worthy organisations which assist needy people of South Africa and which are not state-funded, cannot benefit from these allocations due to the department's inadequate funding of Programme 5, which deals with heritage promotion.
Sir, our international relations policy does not exist in respect of arts and culture. National treaties such as those with Norway and Spain, just to name two, have never been evaluated, are long overdue and need to be revisited in order to determine the extent of South Africa's cultural and economic growth.
We have also noted that the same organisations keep on benefiting from the department's programmes. My question to the Minister, through you, Chair, is: If we don't evaluate the outcomes, how do we determine what our return on investment is or will be?
Let me conclude by saying that we are all aware of the racial, cultural and religious divisions that still exist in our country. We should, therefore, particularly as Members of Parliament, stand firm in promoting social cohesion, and send out a clear message to all citizens that they should live in harmony with each other as fellow South Africans. Ro livhuwa. [Thank you.]