Deputy Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, guests, I want to speak about promoting arts and culture for social cohesion. South Africa is the world's most unequal society. The gap between the rich and the poor is really a huge gulf.
As a result, the majority of the people in our country, our society, are excluded from one another. As President Mbeki pointed out, we are two separate nations. We cannot afford to go our different ways. We need to achieve cohesion. If for the next four years the arts programmes were to concentrate on promoting social cohesion, we would have moved forward. We must set ourselves targets.
With regard to arts and culture programmes, in many countries of the world the arts and culture contribute significantly to the gross domestic product, GDP. We also have so much to offer because we are a world in one country: east, west and the whole of Africa intermingle here. We need to see the volume of products from across the various arts and culture genres growing on a yearly basis. We need such goods for domestic consumption and export.
Arts and culture programmes should also have a concentrated focus on youth, especially the girl-child. Our children should understand the significance of education, lifestyle and constitutional freedom.
With regard to the promotion of linguistic diversity, language is a vital element in building cohesion and achieves empowerment. Language also plays a vital role in education. Today, vocabulary deficiency has become one of the most serious problems facing young people. A child who has a vocabulary deficit will not progress academically. How will this department support the Department of Education to overcome this vocabulary deficit among learners?
If the vocabulary deficit can be overcome through a massive one-year programme, the country would immediately witness a turnaround in educational performance, and this is a magic key.
With regard to support for cultural industries, cultural industries, especially in rural areas, must get technological and marketing support.
Cope believes that the department needs to vigorously support an advanced manufacturing strategy. Rural crafters should be incorporated into co- operatives. This should be done as a matter of urgency.
Asian countries like India and Thailand receive considerable foreign exchange earnings from the export of products developed by cultural practitioners.
In transforming the heritage sector, we are a country of diverse cultures, values and beliefs. While this contributes to our heritage, it has also kept us apart. We need a concerted drive to achieve a common national identity. The heritage sector must help to transform us into a people with a common national identity. This is a matter of extreme urgency and this department dare not fail the nation.
Finally, in a few days to come, the kick-off will take place. Are the heritage institutions of South Africa geared to take up the opportunity to showcase the full extent of our heritage? The media will be here in massive numbers to reflect South Africa to the world. Has the Minister herself devised the programme to receive the media and to provide the media with heritage information?
I wish the Minister would produce a cultural heritage blueprint as it is essential. As Cope, we would also like to see a programme of apprenticeship being launched so that young people can be drawn into the heritage sector. The heritage sector must be identified as an area of growth.
In conclusion, our South African culture must be an amalgamation of the different cultures of our country, incorporating the inherent particularities of each region. Our cultural life must be very dynamic and must serve as a catalyst for something new. This is a challenge to all our artists. I thank you. [Applause.]