Chairperson, hon members, Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture ...
e re kwa ntlheng ke baakanye ... [... let me correct it from the outset ...]
... Deputy Minister, we are the select committee on arts and culture and not the portfolio committee. Today I feel privileged to participate in this important debate on arts and culture.
On 26 June 1955, 55 years and 30 days ago, the real Congress of the People, the ANC, adopted the Freedom Charter in Kliptown. Under one of the Freedom Charter's headings, namely "The Doors of Learning and Culture Shall be Opened", is stated, and I quote:
The government shall discover, develop and encourage national talent for the enhancement of our cultural life.
In order to attain the Freedom Charter's objectives, we need policies or frameworks that will speak to the social, cultural and economic advancement of vulnerable and marginalised groups, especially the disabled, youth, women and children.
The strategic framework of the department states that it has a learnership programme that aims to recruit 20 learners for the current financial year, 2010-11. It is a good initiative. The question remains though: Does it give practical expression to the ANC's policy position on skills development? Is this enough to meet the President's call in his state of the nation address on the pace of delivery to the people, as per the mandate of the Freedom Charter?
The department's strategic framework lacks clarity on how much is budgeted for to realise its objectives. The department fails to give budget breakdowns under Programme 1: Administration to indicate how the budget is linked to the department's priorities.
In my previous speech I spoke about youth and women's training. The department responded positively by including youth as a target group, and this we welcome. Programmes should include other target groups such as women and people with disabilities, the reason being that we have an obligation to ensure that artists are adequately trained to unleash their potential in order to participate in the economic development of our country.
According to the department's strategic framework, more emphasis is placed on the commemoration of Women's Day and the Women's Art Festival and campaigns, than on activities focusing on the socioeconomic empowerment of women through training, skills, and participation and opportunities in the arts, culture and heritage sector.
The National Language Service's objective is to develop, promote and protect all official languages through policy formulation and implementation. On close scrutiny, the impact of the department's programmes on other departments is minimal, for example Grades R to 8 are expected to be taught in and to use their mother tongue, but they are facing the challenge of learning materials not being available in the indigenous languages. The issue of materials not being in indigenous languages in our libraries is still a challenge. Equally so, as parents we have a responsibility to encourage and teach our children our own languages and to be proud of our culture, lest they become a generation without identity.
Go utlwisa botlhoko go fitlhela bana ba rona ba sa itse puo ya rona ya SeAforika. Go utlwisa botlhoko gape le go lemoga rona batsadi re ikgatlha gore ngwana ga a itse Setswana mme o bua Seesimane fela. Selo se se dira gore bana ba rona ba fitlhele ba inyatsa, bana ba rona ba sa kgone go itse setso sa bona le go itlhaloganya gore ke bomang.
Gape go sa itse puo ga bana ba rona go dira kgolagano ya bona magareng ga bona le bonkgolo le borremogolo bokete gonne ga ba kgone go nna fa fatshe go tlotla le bona gore ba kgone go itse dilo tse di diragetseng mo nakong e e fetileng le setso sa bona. A jaaka MaAforika re rotloetse bana ba rona go itse puo ya bona. A re dire jaaka MaAforekanere. Bana ba bua Seesimane fa ba le kwa sekolong, fa ba fitlha kwa gae ba bua Afrikaans. (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)
[It is heartbreaking to find out that our children cannot speak our African languages. It is also heartbreaking to realise that we as parents are proud that the child cannot speak Setswana but can only speak English. This leads to our children not being confident about themselves and being unable to know who they are and what their culture is.
Furthermore, not knowing their language makes their interaction with their grandparents difficult since they cannot sit together and communicate with them so that they can know their history and culture. As Africans let us encourage our children to know their language, let's emulate the Afrikaners. Their children speak English at school, but when they get home they speak Afrikaans.]
According to the department's current budget, the allocation to community libraries is R512,660 million, which is 21% of the department's budget. The budget is intended to promote access to information for the visually impaired by extending library services and co-ordinating Braille production. But these services are not available in most of our libraries in the smaller towns and rural areas.
The budget also aims to facilitate the establishment of the new community libraries and upgrade the existing ones through conditional grants. However, challenges remain, for example underspending by provincial departments. As the President said in his state of the nation address, we need clear policy interventions that are outcomes-driven. This will enable us to pick up early on such matters.
On the issue of name changes, name changes are a necessary process. It has the potential to promote national reconciliation if properly handled. It should be based on the clear principles aimed at changing colonial and apartheid-era names, while equally preserving the positive aspects that reflect our history and the need to restore the proud heritage of the indigenous people.
There is a need to accommodate diversity in our national heritage and have inclusive and democratic processes. We call on other parties to see this as a necessary process in which everyone should participate - and not only when it suits them through court interdicts - in order to contribute towards national reconciliation.
Re lebeletse thata go tswa mo lefapheng la Botaki le Setso jaaka e le lona le le tla agang set?haba sa Aforika Borwa. Ke batla go bua ka kgang ke e, e re fitlhelang re na le maitemogelo a yona go tswa kwa Bokone Bophirima. Ngwaga le ngwaga go na le moletlo o o tshwariwang o o bidiwang Taung Cultural Calabash. Morago go tshwarwe moletlo o mongwe kwa Potchefstroom kwa Tlokwe o o bidiwang Aardlop National Arts Festival. Ke batla go tlhalosa gore fa o ya kwa Taung Cultural Calabash ke batho ba bantsho fela mme fa o ya kwa Aardloop National Arts Festival, ke moletlo wa batho basweu fela.
Bothata ba me ka meletlo e ke gore re dirisa chelete ya lefapha go rotloetsa kgaogano go na le gore re age set?haba. Go ya ka nna, fa re sa tlhokomele selo se, ke rona jaaka lefapha re tsweletsang kgaogano ya merafe ya Aforika Borwa.
Kwa bokhutlhong, ke batla go nopola se se tlhageletseng mo Sowetan sa gore Rre Irvin Khoza o a leboga; o itumelela gore Sejana sa Lefatshe se dirile tiro e e botlhokwa thata ya go ruta batho ba rona go tlhaloganya le go itse matshwao a rona a boset?haba. Le rona re iponetse gore batho ba le bantsi ba itumetse ba itse le go opela pina ya boset?haba. Le nna jaaka ke eme fa ke itse go e opela. (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)
[We are expecting a lot from the Department of Arts and Culture as it is the one that will build the South African nation. I want to talk about this story, which we have knowledge of from the North West province. Every year there is a celebration held called the Taung Cultural Calabash. After that other celebrations are held in Potschefstroom, or Tlokwe, called the Aardklop National Arts Festival. I want to explain that when you go to the Taung Cultural Calabash, only black people are there, while at the Aardklop national festival it is only whites who celebrate.
My problem with these celebrations is that we use the department's finances to encourage racial division rather than build the nation. In my view, if we don't take notice of this thing, we will be held responsible as the department for promoting racial division within communities in South Africa.
Lastly, I want to refer to what was printed in the Sowetan, namely that Mr Irvin Khoza expressed his gratitude; he is happy that the World Cup did an important job of teaching our people to understand and know our national coat of arms and symbols. We also saw that most people know and sing the national anthem. Even I, as I stand before you, know how to sing it.]
In conclusion, in about 15 days from today, we will be opening one of the biggest events in South Africa on behalf of Africa, the 2010 Fifa World Cup. We need to extend our inherited "ubuntu-ness" to our global visitors in order for them to share their experiences with others back home and crave coming back to our beloved motherland. The ANC supports the Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]