Chair, I would like to thank the hon members for their contribution to this very important debate and a very important department, which is primarily responsible for the task of uniting and building our nation. As we are here today, if I may just say so, some of the people here are wearing clothes which are the handiwork of some up-and-coming people. In that sector, particularly, they have had international exposure in Europe and the USA, and so on. So, government will continue with this task of ensuring that even someone from our communities finds an opportunity for his or her work to gain exposure. We agree with the chairperson's input about being proud of and developing our languages even further, because that is what we are all supposed to be doing. I also take the point that you are making in that you, as this portfolio committee, are going to be supporting the department, and, at the same time, are going to be able to give pointers where you think things need to be done. I think that should be accepted.
Hon Rabotapi, perhaps you could try to follow the processes of the reviewing of the White Paper, because the point that you are raising, particularly on integrating the entire portfolio in arts, culture, and all those matters, is something that is being done. Your input would also be welcomed, in that regard.
I'm also pleased to be making a proposal about the provincial festivals. Safe to say, you are on track on that, because, you see, this is what the department has been doing for some years. Some of the provincial festivals are successful; others are not. It is a good idea, and you will see that as you move closer to the department.
Hon Matshobeni, on the points you made for not supporting the Budget Vote, you mention the post of the CFO, which has to be filled. I will tell you here that that process is under way and the post is going to be filled. On the issue of libraries in local communities, the Deputy Minister referred to it. We were saying that we would fight very hard to see to it that local content support happened. That leaves you with no reason not to support the Budget Vote! [Laughter.]
Mhlonishwa Mpontshane, siyakuzwa, Sokwalisa ukuthi uthini, kodwa-ke njengoba nawe usho ukuthi ... [Hon Mpontshane, we hear what you are saying, Sokwalisa, but as you also say ...]
... we have thousands and thousands of schools. We have 240 artists going to schools. This is a start. Surely, as time goes by, we will be able to meet what is required of us. It is quite important that we focus on this part of our work. We are working with Basic Education, of course, because we can't just go in there. It is important, as you say, and I know that this is the area you have been working in for a very long time.
Hon Makondo, on the documentation of the liberation struggle, we have just returned from a trip to France, where we righted some of the wrongs of the past. People, South Africans, fought side by side in the First World War. When the time came for them to be buried, they were buried separately, because those in power at the time said it must happen like that. So, we went to Paris to correct that - to take Africans and bury them together with the white South Africans. They were all South Africans, and they remain South Africans, even in death. [Applause.] Work is ongoing in terms of clarifying some things that were said in a particular way, including what is called the Anglo-Boer War. This, essentially, was a South African war in the sense that Africans were part and parcel of that war. They suffered, like anybody else did. If you talk about concentration camps, you'll talk about 26 000 Afrikaners who were put there - but you will also talk about 21 000 Africans. So, there is no way that this was Anglo-Boer. Africans were there and they have to be recognised.
We are not going to do away with the old symbols. We are a nation in healing. There is no way that we would say that we would do away with what was there, now, because we are here, hon Mulder. What we will be doing is to complete the picture, so that, if you come to South Africa, you will get the South African picture - not a picture seen through the lenses of colonialism, but a picture from the people of South Africa, as a whole.
I was about to ... no, I am coming to you, actually ... I was about to really applaud what you were saying about languages, because we are still lagging behind on languages and on developing the 11. However, there are also other, unofficial languages, like Nama, isiMpondo - you can name them - but, you see, when you said "Afrikaans" ... Had you said there is a problem that we need to deal with, someone would have argued that, in the South African context, Afrikaans and English have been given more recognition, or what have you. Perhaps you compare English and Afrikaans - it's an old thing ...