National Assembly - 02 June 2006
FRIDAY, 2 JUNE 2006 __
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
____
The House met at 09:03.
The House Chairperson Mr G Q M Doidge took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
NOTICES OF MOTION
Mr S L TSENOLI: Chairperson, on the next sitting day of the House, I shall move:
That the House notes –
(1) the heroic sacrifices made by Chief Bambatha Kamancinza in defence of the rights of African people;
(2) that this year marks the centenary of the Bambatha uprising; and
(3) that the ANC therefore moves that this House debates the
significance of the Bambatha uprising to land restitution,
distribution and economic emancipation of the African people. [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): Hon Tsenoli, that is a notice of motion. There was an appeal from my left for a notice of motion. [Interjections.] I’m coming to you. Are we clear? Hon Spies?
Mr W D SPIES: Chair, this is also a notice of motion. Chairperson, I hereby give notice that, on the next sitting day of the House, that I shall move:
That this House notes that since –
1) the Employment Equity Act has now been in operation for more than
eight years, since 1998;
(2) the unintended consequences of the implementation of the measures prescribed in the Act, such as large-scale impoverishment, alienation and emigration of South Africans from the so-called non-designated groups, and increasing discrimination by employers against employees within the so-called designated group, based on alleged degrees of former disadvantagement, as was illustrated by the recent argument by Eskom at the arbitration proceedings of a certain Mr Christiaans, are becoming more apparent by the day; and
(3) recent market research has shown that the majority of South Africans, including ANC members, support the phasing out of affirmative action measures in as far as this applies to young South Africans;
The FF Plus hereby gives notice that it will move for a debate in the House on the negotiation and adoption of a code of good practice for affirmative action as proposed by the trade union, Solidarity, at a meeting held in Gauteng on 23 May 2006.
Thank you.
Mr J H VAN DER MERWE: Chairperson, I give notice that I shall move tomorrow in the House:
That the House notes that -
1) when members put questions to Ministers on the Order Paper,
Ministers are duty bound to give replies;
2) I put a question, question 196, on the Order Paper to the Minister
of Justice for reply on 17 March 2006;
3) the Minister has however, not answered the question nor tendered an
explanation as to why she has not answered the question;
4) the question is now overdue by two and a half months; and
(5) I bring this matter to the attention of the House and request that the House, in exercising its oversight function, sanctions the Minister for not doing her duty.
The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: May I enquire who will be presiding when Mr Van der Merwe moves this motion tomorrow?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): I take it is a notice of motion, Mr Van der Merwe, and not specifically for tomorrow, because you’ll be sitting alone here. [Laughter.]
Mr J H VAN DER MERWE: I was hoping that Mr Jeffery would be chairing tomorrow! [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): Order! That will be accepted as a notice of motion. Yes, hon member?
Mrs L MALONEY: Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House, I shall move:
That this House –
(1) notes the heroism of and sacrifices made by South African women
in the struggle for national and social emancipation;
(2) further notes that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the
historic march of the women of South Africa to the Union Buildings
in Pretoria; and
(3) notes that I hereby give notice on behalf of the ANC that this
House should debate the significance of the role of women in the
struggle for a united, democratic, nonsexist, nonracial and
prosperous South Africa.
Thank you. [Applause.]
Ms S C VOS: Chairperson, the IFP was dismayed to learn that 22 500 teachers left the teaching profession in South Africa last year. Clearly, this is a disastrous development for an education system that is already understaffed, underresourced and under tremendous pressure to produce quality education and quality learners. This development is compounded by the fact that currently only 8 000 newly qualified teachers enter the system every year. Clearly, here we are dealing with a net loss of teachers of alarming proportions. It is estimated that South Africa will, in future years, require … The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chairperson, on a point of order: Is this a statement or a notice?
Ms S C VOS: It’s a member’s statement, sorry.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): No, we are still taking notices of motion.
I am not sure whether we have dealt with notices of motion. I know we are off to a bit of a slow start this morning. Before I move on, I just want to draw the attention of members to notices of motion.
They are meant to be succinct and not actually pre-empt the debate. You have an opportunity for statements, so if we can just keep to that agreement that we have amongst the Whips that notices of motion should be succinct. Let us move on to motions without notice.
EARTHQUAKE IN INDONESIA
(Draft Resolution)
The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chairperson, I move without notice -
That the House –
(1) notes
(a) the great tragedy that befell the people of Indonesia on
Saturday, 27 May 2006, when an earthquake measuring 6.3 on
the Richter scale hit the country; and
(b) that more than 5 000 people died as a result of the earthquake,
more than 20 000 people were injured, and 130 000 people were
left homeless, of whom 40% are children;
2) conveys its condolences to the government and people of Indonesia;
and
3) expresses its gratitude to the United Nations, countries, private
organisations and individuals who have made contributions to assist
the victims.
Thank you.
Agreed to.
DEATH OF EUGENE SCHAEFER
(Draft Resolution)
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms C-S Botha): Chairperson, I hereby move without notice:
That this House –
(1) expresses its sincere condolences to the family of Mrs Eugene Schaefer, aged 72, who was brutally murdered in her home on Tuesday, and robbed of a mere cellphone;
(2) recognises with great regret that this is not an unusual event, but part of a deeply disturbing vortex of violence which is engulfing us on a daily basis;
(3) notes that Mrs Shaefer was murdered in Parys, the town in the northern Free State where I grew up and which is also in my constituency;
(4) notes that her daughter Toni and son-in-law, Soli Philander, are my neighbours in Cape Town;
(5) notes that less than a month ago, Soli amused us here in Parliament with his view of members of the Cabinet, and showed himself to be as much a philosopher as a comedian; and
(6) simultaneously notes that he showed his commitment to ending violence by actively participating in the ``Silence the Violence’’ march in the Peninsula at that time; and I therefore implore this House to recognise that we are all enmeshed in these events and need to take personal responsibility for changing the direction of this tide of brutality by giving moral guidance and insuring meaningful action.
The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chair, could I just rise on a point of order?
I think we would obviously be very sympathetic to the matters raised by Ms Botha in her motion without notice. However, we have not had sight of this and, therefore, we request that it stand over so that we could consider it.
Mnr W P DOMAN: Agb Voorsitter, ons as swepery het vir die ANC gister daarvan kennis gegee so dit het miskien nie reg uitgekom nie. Ek wil dit net op rekord stel dat ons probeer het om volgens die reëls en die ooreenkoms dit af te handel. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows)
[Mr W P DOMAN: Hon Chairperson, we as the whippery gave the ANC notice of this yesterday, so maybe it was not conveyed in the right manner. I want to mention for the record that we tried to deal with it according to the rules and the agreement.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G Q M Doidge): I am not going to put the question on this motion without notice, because there is also some editing that I think needs to be applied. There was an issue raised in the motion about, I think, the hon member ``implores the House’’. So, I think if we can just look at that. I won’t put the question, but I will leave it to the Table to advise the member on how to resolve the issue between the Whips as well as on some editorial problems that need to be rectified.
WEEK FOR PROTECTION OF CHILDREN’SRIGHTS
(Member’s Statement)
Mnu B Z ZULU (ANC): Sihlalo, uhulumeni wezwe lethu oholwa umbutho wesizwe, i-African National Congress, uqoke leli sonto esikulo njengelokuvikelwa kwabantwana bethu namalungelo abo. UMthetho weNhlangano yeZizwe nathi esivumelana nawo uthi abantwana, njengawo wonke umuntu, banamalungelo nabo okufanele ukuba ahlonishwe. NoMthethosisekelo wethu uyakuqinisekisa lokhu.
Mhla zinga-30 kuNhlaba kuwona lonyaka, iPhini likaNgqongqoshe wezokuPhepha, umhlonishwa u-Susan Shabangu, uqalise ngokusemthethweni umkhankaso wokuthi sibambisane sonke singumphakathi ekulweni nobunswelaboya obenziwa kubantwana bethu. Siyi-African Nation Congress siwusekela kakhulu lomkhankaso. Sithi-ke kubo bonke abantu bakithi asibambisaneni, sivikele abantwana bethu, sibakhulise kahle, sibafundise futhi sibakhe babe ngabantu bakusasa abaqotho. (Translation of isiZulu member’s statement follows.)
[Mr B Z ZULU (ANC): Chairperson, the national government led by the African National Congress has chosen this week as the week for protection of children’s rights. The United Nations convention that we agree with also states that children, like everybody, also have rights that have to be respected and our Constitution ensures this.
On 30th May 2006, the Deputy Minister for Safety and Security Susan Shabangu officially started the campaign of working together as a community to fight the abuse of our children. As the African National Congress we firmly support this campaign. We therefore say to all our people: Let us work together, protect our children, nurture them well, teach them and mould them to be faithful future citizens.]
AWARDING OF TENDER CONTRACTS: CITY OF CAPE TOWN
(Member’s Statement)
Mr W P DOMAN (DA): Chair, another scandal and example of mismanagement by the former ANC-led city council of Cape Town has been exposed. Hundreds of millions of rands worth of tenders awarded by the ANC Executive Mayoral Committee of Nomaindia Mfeketo behind closed doors after 17 June 2004, have been found by the National Treasury and legal experts of the State Law Advisor to be unconstitutional and in breach of national legislation.
The SA Federation of Civil Engineering contractors said a lot of money was wasted on appeals, to no avail, and that their legal advice was that it was beyond Mfeketo’s legal powers to amend the procurement requirements to insert that all tenders should have at least 30% BEE ownership before an award could be considered.
Die koalisie-regering van die DA-Uitvoerende Burgermeester Helen Zille moet gelukgewens word dat hulle hierdie uitsluitingsbeleid weer reggestel het in ‘n voorkeurbeleid waarin tenders weer op ‘n puntestelsel oorweeg sal word met bykomende punte vir swart eienaarskap sodat histories-benadeelde individue steeds op ‘n verantwoordelike wyse bemagtig kan word sonder om ander tenderaars op ‘n rassegrondslag uit te sluit.
Is hierdie ‘n rede waarom Dr Wallace Mgoqi so graag wou vashou aan sy posisie as munisipale besutuurder?
Die DA doen ‘n beroep op alle ANC-beheerde munisipaliteite on hulle voorkeurbeleid volgens Tesourievoorskrif te bepaal. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.) [The coalition government of the DA’s Executive Mayor, Helen Zille, should be congratulated on having changed this policy of exclusion into a preferential policy whereby tenders will once again be considered according to a points system, with bonus points for black ownership so that historically disadvantaged individuals may still be empowered in a responsible manner without the exclusion of other interested parties on racial grounds.
Was this the reason why Dr Wallace Mgoqi was so keen to hang on to his position as municipal manager?
The DA appeals to all ANC-controlled municipalities to determine their preferential policies in accordance with Treasury regulations.]
RETAINING OF TEACHERS AND ATTRACTING NEW ENTRANTS
(Member’s Statement)
Ms S C VOS (IFP): Chairperson, once again today the IFP notes with dismay the fact that 22 500 teachers left the teaching profession in South Africa last year. Clearly, this is a disastrous development for an education system that is already understaffed, underresourced and under tremendous pressure to produce quality education and quality learners.
This development is compounded by the fact that currently only about 8 000 newly qualified teachers are entering the system every year. Clearly, we are dealing here with a net loss of teachers of alarming proportions.
It is estimated that South Africa would in future require at least 30 000 new teachers every year just to maintain the number required by the education system. We produce barely a quarter of that number at the moment.
Drastic and urgent action is clearly required to retain skilled teachers in the profession and to launch new training programmes to more rapidly increase the supply of new teachers. If we do not take immediate action our education system, with the best will in the world, is bound to fail to provide enough quality learners to satisfy the demands of the job market or eliminate the overall skills shortage.
YOUTH MONTH CELEBRATIONS: 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF STUDENT UPRISINGS
(Member’s Statement)
Ms T V TOBIAS (ANC): Chairperson, today marks the beginning of Youth Month, and this year’s June 16 celebrations will be launched on Sunday here in Cape Town, kwaLanga, and this marks the 30th anniversary of the Soweto and other related student uprisings. We, as the ANC Youth League, are still committed to the national democratic revolution and will deepen the hegemony of the national liberation movement and continue to champion it with interest. This year’s focus will be on deepening youth participation to fight poverty and create jobs. This objective is based on the fact that we need to deepen the political consciousness of the South African youth and mobilise them to participate in democracy and fighting youth unemployment.
We will continue with our campaign to ensure that young people access decent and permanent jobs and therefore it is important to the youth of our country to participate in programmes initiated by our organisation. As they heed this call, they must understand that: The ANC lives! The ANC leads!
SALARIES OF MUNICIPAL MANAGERS
(Member’s Statement)
Mnr P J GROENEWALD (VF PLUS): Agb Voorsitter, die VF Plus het sedert 1998 deurentyd sy kommer uitgespreek oor die buitensporige hoë salarisse van munisipale bestuurders. Die VF Plus het ook herhaaldelik ‘n beroep op die regering en die Ministers gemoeid met plaaslike regering gedoen om beperkings te plaas op salarisse van hierdie bestuurders.
Dit is onaanvaarbaar dat ‘n munisipale bestuurder van ‘n plaaslike regering soos Matlosane in Klerksdorp ‘n salaris ontvang wat gelykstaande is aan dié van ‘n Minister, en ‘n munisipale bestuurder van ‘n metroraad soos byvoorbeeld Johannesburg, ‘n salaris ontvang wat selfs meer is as dié van die President van die land.
Dit is die belastingsbetaler wat moet opdop vir hierdie salarisse. Die VF Plus het in Begrotingsdebatte, debatte van die stadsrode en in amptelike vrae aan die Parlement aan die betrokke Ministers gevra dat die regering moet ingryp.
In die lig hiervan verwelkom die VF Plus die aankondiging van die Minister dat daar nou ingegryp word en skale nou gepubliseer sal word in die Staatskoerant vir kommentaar en implementering. Die VF Plus sal hierdie skale ondersoek om te verseker dat daar nie steeds ‘n onbillike las op die belastingbetaler geplaas word nie. (Translation of Afrikaans member’s statement follows.)
[Mr P J GROENEWALD (FF PLUS): Hon Chairperson, since 1998 the FF Plus has consistently raised its concern about the exorbitantly high salaries of municipal managers. The FF Plus has also repeatedly appealed to government and the Ministers concerned with local government to place restrictions on the salaries of these managers. It is unacceptable that a municipal manager of a local authority like Matlosane in Klerksdorp receives a salary equal to that of a Minister, and that a municipal manager of a metro council, for example Johannesburg, receives a salary that is even higher than that of the President of the country.
It is the taxpayers who have to cough up for these salaries. The FF Plus has in budget debates, city council debates and official questions to Parliament asked the Ministers concerned for government intervention.
In light of this, the FF Plus welcomes the announcement by the Minister that they are now going to intervene and that scales will now be published in the Gazette for comments and implementation. The FF Plus will examine these scales to ensure that an unreasonable burden is not still being placed on the taxpayers.]
SECRET PROFITS BY PENSION FUND ADMINISTRATORS
(Member’s Statement)
Ms C C SEPTEMBER (ANC): Chairperson, the ANC notes with concern the recent reports about secret profits being earned from bulking and other practices by administrators of pension funds.
One instance where an administrator makes a secret profit is where the administrator bulks the funds under its administration and negotiates a higher rate of interest to be paid on the funds but then takes some of these benefits for itself without disclosing this practice to or getting explicit approval from the pension fund. This is tantamount to taking away benefits from pension fund members without anyone’s knowledge or approval.
Pension fund administrators operate in terms of a licence from the Registrar of Pension Funds and must observe all the conditions and obligations that come with such a right to operate. The ANC therefore calls for this practice and any other form of secret profits to be investigated thoroughly in order to maintain public confidence in the retirement fund industry.
In this respect, public hearings in Parliament into these unlawful practices, are justified and in the public interest. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
INCORPORATION OF SCORPIONS INTO SA POLICE SERVICE
(Member’s Statement)
Mr M DIKO (UIF): Chairperson, the UIF noted with interest the submission to President Thabo Mbeki of the final report of the Khamphephe commission of inquiry into the mandate and the location of the Scorpions. Clearly, the future home of the Scorpions is uncertain until President Mbeki makes a decision.
Sadly, the whole saga has occurred when the Scorpions had achieved a conviction rate of higher than 90% in comparison with the 8% rate achieved by the police’s Serious and Violent Crimes Unit.
We are waiting for these findings at a time when the whole world is expecting our country to be exemplary, especially in Africa, and take the leading role as far as the fight against corruption is concerned.
The UIF calls on President Mbeki not to incorporate this elite crime- busting unit into the SA Police Service, as this may be a setback to our commitment to fight corruption. South Africa cannot afford to take two steps forward and then take 15 steps backwards.
FRAUDULENT CLAIMS BY DR RATH
(Member’s Statement)
Ms D KOHLER-BARNARD (DA): Chair, the DA wishes to point out to this House that despite the fact that the so-called star patients of Aids dissident Matthias Rath died here in Cape Town, no investigation has ever been undertaken into the dealings of this man. In Europe and America he is being prohibited from exploiting the desperation of the sick by authorities that recognise the danger he poses.
But here in South Africa, despite overwhelming scientific evidence of the fallacy of Rath’s claims, the Minister of Health repeatedly refuses to condemn him or sanction any action against him. Rath should long ago have been prohibited from making fraudulent claims and his bogus health clinic should have been shut down.
On his website he has moved on from allegedly curing the world of all heart disease and cancer and Aids and now claims that his vitamins cure bird flu and tuberculosis too. As usual no clinical trials have ever been undertaken and no recognised medical professional buys into his ravings except, it seems, the South African Minister of Health.
The reason why Rath’s so-called scientific studies are gathering dust in laboratories is because no self-respecting scientist would deign to give them a second glance. His partners, SANCO, claim that ARVs are irrelevant and that the citizens should rise up against those who insist that they be made available to Aids patients.
The fact that Rath has spread his tentacles to the east coast, where SANCO parades its nonsense about global conspiracies, should be sounding warning bells for those who quietly left this country for more gullible climes. We truly have sufficient Aids charlatans of our own without having to import them from Germany.
REGIONAL MINI-PARLIAMENT IN ENNERDALE, JOHANNESBURG
(Member’s Statement)
Mr S J NJIKELANA (ANC): Chairperson, on 12 May 2006 a regional mini- parliament was held in Ennerdale in the Deep South area, south of Johannesburg. In this mini-parliament, which has been actively convening for the past few years, the ten years of existence of our beloved country’s democratic Constitution was celebrated.
This session was attended by 10 learners from Orange Farm, Poortjie, Thula Mntwana, Ennerdale, Vlakfontein and Lenasia. There were also youth from the Hindu, Tamil, Islam and Christian faiths, not to mention the presence and participation of youth who were HIV-positive and also orphans - a clear expression of the socio-economic reality in the Deep South.
I want to thank all those who have made the event a success, especially Mr Tony Reeves - the brains behind, engineer and architect of this project - Mrs Sally Rabichand, Bongani Majosi and Gavin Machete. I also want to express my extreme gratitude to the Speaker of this House, hon Baleka Mbete, for gracing this session.
I therefore call upon all the other hon members to consider such projects favourably in their own areas. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
ELECTION OF FEMALE MAYORS
(Member’s Statement)
Mr M JOHNSON (ANC): Chairperson, the ANC welcomes the inauguration of the first female mayors in the metros and other districts. Examples include the Nelson Mandela Metro’s Ms Nondumiso Mapazi, Tshwane Metro’s Gwen Ramokgopa and Buffalo City’s Zintle Peter, among others. This development heralds a new move in gender equity for the municipalities and the country as a whole.
One of the great leaders and statesmen, Comrade Samora Machel, said in March 1973:
The emancipation of women is not an act of charity, the result of a humanitarian or compassionate attitude. The liberation of women is a fundamental necessity for the revolution, the guarantee of its continuity and the precondition for its victory.
These comrades join other capable female cadres in leading society towards a caring society that recognises equality in its quest for a people’s democracy. Together with your male comrades, ours is to nurture these efforts towards realising our nonsexist, nonracial and democratic society.
The ANC wishes all these comrades and other leading female comrades success in their work towards a better life for all. [Applause.]
VULNERABILITY OF CHILDREN IN SOUTH AFRICA
(Member’s Statement)
Mr J H VAN DER MERWE (IFP): Chairperson, the vulnerability of children in South Africa, especially girls, is a cause for great concern. Although there are measures in place to try and give these vulnerable members of our society the protection that they rightly deserve, we have to ask ourselves whether enough is really being done or whether the current mechanisms that we have in place are adequate to deal with this very serious issue.
Earlier this week, police officers in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, used metal cutters to cut free a 16-year-old girl who was locked behind a gate with burglar bars and used as a sex slave. This young girl was unable to leave the locked room and was forced to use a plastic ice-cream tub as a makeshift toilet. She had allegedly been sold to a Nigerian national to pay a drug debt.
According to a senior member of the SA Police Service, this type of sex slavery is not uncommon. Therefore, we cannot fail our children. It is up to us all to ensure that they have the necessary protection and are not preyed upon by the many cruel and inhumane criminals that exist in our society.
We therefore urge the relevant authorities and all concerned people to use the mechanisms in place to stop the abuse of our children or to implement new mechanisms if those currently in place are not effective. Thank you, Chairperson.
THE FLAUTISTS OF AQUADA DE SÂO BRAS
(Member’s Statement)
Mnr S E OPPERMAN (DA): Voorsitter, die fluitspelers van Aquada de Sâo Bras sal moontlik een van die onderskrifte wees van die voorgestelde standbeeld in Mosselbaai, wat erkenning sal gee aan die plaaslike inwoners wat Diaz in 1488 en Da Gama in 1497 by Sâo Bras aangetref het. Hierdie inboorlinge het reeds baie eeue voor Diaz hierdie deel van die kontinent bewoon.
In Mosselbaai is daar ‘n Diaz Strand, Diaz Museum, Diaz Standbeeld, Diaz Hotel, D’Almeida Woonbuurt en Sâo Bras Sekondêre Skool.
In hierdie see van Portugese name en monumente wil ons hierdie standbeeld oprig. Ons sal die Departement van Kuns en Kultuur nader en vertrou dat hulle sal bydra om dit te verwesenlik.
Ons moet erkenning gee aan hierdie groep mense en aan elkeen van ons wat ‘n deel van die DNA van hierdie inboorlinge in ons dra. (Translation of Afrikaans member’s statement follows.)
[Mr S E OPPERMAN (DA): Chairperson, The Flautists of Aquada de Sâo Bras will possibly be one of the inscriptions on the proposed statue in Mossel Bay that will give recognition to the local inhabitants that Diaz encountered in Sâo Bras in 1488 and Da Gama in 1487. These indigenous people had inhabited this part of the continent many centuries before Diaz arrived.
In Mossel Bay you find a Diaz Beach, Diaz Museum, Diaz Statue, Diaz Hotel, D’Almeida Township and Sâo Bras Secondary School. In this sea of Portuguese names and monuments, we wish to erect this statue. We shall approach the Department of Arts and Culture and trust that they will contribute towards realising this.
We must acknowledge this group of people and each of us who carries a part of the DNA of these indigenous people within us.]
The rhythm and the harmony of the music by the five flautists amazed Da Gama and his crew – and the same rhythm and harmony in dance and song is still part of the descendants of these early inhabitants who are not ashamed to declare // ib Koasa Kare re! I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
TRANSFORMATION CHARTER OF SARU
(Member’s Statement)
Mrs D M MOROBI (ANC): The ANC welcomes the adoption of the Transformation Charter by the SA Rugby Union last Friday. The objective of the Transformation Charter is to drive the moral and strategic transformation of rugby on the basis of broad-based empowerment principles.
Whilst we do agree that transformation is a process and commend SARU for embarking on a complete re-design of the organisation, we need to remind rugby administrators that the unity process in rugby started in 1990. As a result, we are growing impatient with the slow and lacklustre approach of the 13 key provincial unions towards transformation. The charter should harness and accelerate the pace of transformation instead of starting from scratch to transform the game.
While the selection of players in the national team is the competency of the selection panel of SARU, we need to keep federations accountable to ensure that their selection policy is aligned to the transformation commitments and development agenda of the government. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
DEPLOYMENT OF SANDF IN THE COMORES
(Member’s Statement)
Mr O E MONARENG (ANC): Chairperson, South Africa continues to play a pivotal role in peacekeeping missions on our continent. South African peacekeeping forces were deployed in Burundi, the DRC, etc.
The Commander-in-Chief, the hon President of the Republic of South Africa, has once again deployed our troops to the Commores to deal with important problems of that country as we all know that this island is small and has experienced many coups d’état, which were foreign initiated. This deployment also comes at a time when our Parliament is dealing with the Anti-Mercenary Bill, which seeks to tighten systems in our country.
We also know that the SA National Defence Force not only does this sterling work with little pay from the UN, it also engages in community work such as disaster management and therefore at the current juncture our troops are also working on a relief programme after the eruption of a volcano.
Whilst deployed on a peacekeeping mission therefore we as members of Parliament would like to thank the women who belong to the SA National Defence Force doing the job in peacekeeping. And we want to thank them greatly. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
SOUTH AFRICA MOVING TOWARDS A DICTATORSHIP
(Member’s Statement)
Mr D H M GIBSON (DA): Mr Chair, the ANC caucus yesterday rejected with contempt allegations by the SA Communist Party and Cosatu to the effect that Parliament is being sidelined and that the President is leading South Africa towards a dictatorship.
The thing that interests the DA and the people of South Africa is that there were members of the SACP and Cosatu who were sitting in that caucus and are therefore presumably bound by the decision of the caucus, which rejects with contempt these allegations.
What I would like the SACP and Cosatu to tell South Africa is why two years ago they campaigned for the ANC to be re-elected and two months ago they campaigned mightily and vigorously in the municipal election? Nothing has changed in the last two months. Those two organisations need to explain to the people of South Africa why they misled them into voting again for the ANC when those organisations say we are on our way to a dictatorship. They say there are too many things in South Africa that make us think that we are on our way to a Zimbabwean crisis.
I think the members of the SACP and Cosatu in this House should stand up and apologise both to the House and to the people of South Africa for the gross way in which they misled people into voting against their own better judgement and against the interests of South Africa. [Applause.]
ATTRITION RATE OF TEACHERS MONTH CELEBRATIONS THE YOUTH
VULNERABILTY OF CHILDREN
(Minister’s Response)
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF EDUCATION: Chairperson, I imagine that when the hon Jeremy Cronin becomes a Minister he will have an opportunity to respond to the statement by Mr Gibson.
I would like to assure the hon Vos that we are carefully monitoring the attrition rate of teachers. There are more than 350 000 teachers employed by the Department of Education, and the normal attrition rate varies between 5% and 10%. Obviously, we are concerned about the employment of educators. We have noted that the opening up of the economy has created huge opportunities for many people, amongst whom are educators. Poaching is taking place.
We have also recognised, with concern, the fact that as a result of overrapid urbanisation, many of the teachers in the rural areas are moving to the city centres and, in fact, leaving their profession. We have taken specific measures in this regard, amongst which are the fact that we have set aside R4,2 billion for teacher development, for career-pathing, to ensure that there are incentives paid to teachers to retain teachers in the rural areas. So this is a matter of great concern. There is no crisis at this point in time, but this is a matter that we are looking at very carefully.
We have also set aside, through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, a dedicated amount for teacher development because we think it is critical and necessary to do so. We have urged provinces also to ensure that they promote the need for teachers and monitor this very carefully.
What is very critical is that we manage the process very well. We have surplus teachers in certain schools and we have a scarcity of teachers in other schools. So, teacher provisioning must be done more meticulously, and I’m glad you’ve raised this. This is something that is being taken note of, and we are monitoring it very carefully. There is no crisis in so far as this is concerned.
I would like to thank Comrade Thandi for raising the issue of the youth month celebrations. Obviously, this is an important matter. This year we are celebrating, amongst the various anniversaries, the 30th anniversary of the June 16 uprisings. The hon Minister of Arts and Culture is a convenor of the interministerial committee responsible for the celebration of these anniversaries that will, amongst other things, focus on the youth.
From the side of the Department of Education, we have made particular interventions in this regard. We have, amongst other things, engaged in a programme with the Department of Home Affairs in accordance with which the Deputy Minister of Education and the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs visit the various provinces, invite the youth, and profile the further education and training colleges that are important institutions that offer separate career paths to our learners to ensure that we increase them and, in this regard, we have set aside R1,9 billion for FET colleges. These and other initiatives certainly endorse the sentiments that you have raised, and certainly all sectors of government are concerned about this matter.
Chairperson, with your permission may I just touch on the issue the hon Van der Merwe raised. He raised the issue of vulnerable children. This is a matter of great concern. We have a particular response, because it’s Children’s Week and this year we are focusing on children.
From the Department of Education perspective, there is a particular focus on orphans and vulnerable children. This is something that we have to look at attentively. We have a movement for the awareness of the vulnerability of women in which male learners or boy learners are asked to take care of their sisters, become their sisters’ keepers, to make them aware of gender equity and equality, and to ensure that as they grow up they become aware of their responsibilities so that they become protectors of the learners.
Certainly, the Department of Safety and Security is paying particular attention to this specific aspect. You may well be aware of the fact, Mr Van der Merwe, that we don’t have 16 days of activism any longer. We have 365 days of activism. That is an initiative of government, which says that every department of government should look at its responsibility to ensure that it promotes awareness of the vulnerability of our women and particularly our children. Thank you very much, Chairperson.
CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF SC ON PRIVATE MEMBERS’ LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS AND SPECIAL PETITIONS – PETITION BY MRS C J KELLERMAN
There was no debate.
The DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Chairperson, I move:
That the Report be adopted.
Motion agreed to.
Report accordingly adopted.
APPROPRIATION BILL
Debate on Vote No 14 – Arts and Culture:
The MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE: Mr Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, the government’s Medium-Term Strategic Framework, reflecting the mandate given to us by the people of South Africa at the last general elections, focuses on three areas: The need to accelerate growth and promote the equitable economic development of our country and its people; stepping up efforts to achieve social cohesion and nurture social identity to realise the goals of nonracialism and nonsexism, through a deepening and expansion of democracy; installing robust mechanisms and systems to monitor and evaluate progress on all objectives, strategies and plans of the government in relation to these priorities.
The strategies, plans and expenditure commitments of the Department of Arts and Culture proceed from this medium-term framework and seek to align its budgetary patterns with it. This speaks directly to the needs of the majority of our people who mandated us to govern, manage the economy and our cultural institutions on their behalf.
Many years ago, the great African patriot, Amilcar Cabral, described cultural practice as an act of liberation. The manner in which we spend public finances this year hopefully will contribute to the development of the soul of our nation and promote its further liberation.
During the 2006-07 financial year, the Department will spend close to R70 million on language programmes and on activities to promote linguistic diversity in South Africa. This includes the financial resources allocated to the work of the Pan South African Language Board, which will be given R39,09 million.
These resources are utilised to translate all documentation of all national government departments into the 11 official languages, plus a number of foreign languages. Language policy mechanisms such as the Telephone Interpreting Service of South Africa – TISSA - language research and development centres, human language technologies, terminology development, literature development and promotion are all funded from the same source.
On the telephone interpreting service alone, my department will spend more than R30 million over two years. It is one of the projects through which my department has already created employment for more than 60 previously unemployed people. The department will continue creating new job opportunities in the field of interpretation and call centre management as the telephone interpreting service is rolled out throughout the country.
TISSA gives effect to functional multilingualism by providing professional and efficient telephone interpreting services to all those who need to access the government. It particularly seeks to enhance oral communication between the public and government agencies, so that anyone can be served in the language of their choice, provided it is an official language in South Africa.
TISSA is an innovative strategy for entrenching democracy as it speaks to the right of citizens to use the language of their choice in accessing government services and information. It is fair to postulate that language, as one of the most sensitive matters in South Africa, has been brilliantly tackled by the introduction of such an innovative communication tool as TISSA.
South Africa has departed from the previous bilingual dispensation that entailed only English and Afrikaans being promoted, advanced and utilised for government business and communication at all levels. Eleven of the languages spoken in the country have official status in our Constitution. We therefore have an obligation to promote and advance their usage. I want to emphasise that Afrikaans, as one of the official languages, is being actively promoted and protected by the government, the hysteria of certain academics notwithstanding.
The experiences of June 1976, whose 30th anniversary we are commemorating this year, demonstrate that the use of a language or languages to oppress other human beings cannot be an option for South Africa. The only sensible course for us is the equitable promotion and use of all official languages, and parity of esteem for all our languages, where each language is embraced, nurtured and encouraged to grow and develop.
Even though Afrikaans in the past has been used as a tool for domination and oppression of the African people, that language remains one of the official languages of South Africa. Nothing, and no one will change that! The development and advancement of the African languages will not be at the expense of Afrikaans. The status of Afrikaans as an official language in the Republic of South Africa is not under threat.
Effective programmes for literature development, literary awareness, identification of community liaison personnel and other initiatives that address the unique language needs of previously marginalized language communities are equally important for the full participation of these African language mother-tongue speakers in all provinces and regions where these languages are spoken.
A community-based approach to the promotion of provincial and regional literature is the most viable option for the implementation of the policy. A number of literary awards were established last year to ensure that deserving writers are recognised, encouraged and rewarded for their efforts.
During 2005 we spent R490 million on heritage institutions, which accounted for almost 67% of our budget. This expresses the department’s mandate as the “custodian of the nation’s collective memory”. The budget for heritage this year will come down to 48% of the total and stands at R635,22 million. Heritage contributes to social cohesion and the building of a South African national identity because it is a palpable record of our past. A special transformation budget has been steadily augmented over the last three years to reflect the diversity of South African society and contribute to the decolonisation of our minds.
After we unveiled the Albert Luthuli monument in KwaDukuza, in KwaZulu- Natal, we designated Sheik Yusuf’s Kramat in Macassar, in the Western Cape, as a national monument, during 2005. This year, government adopted the decision to erect two more significant monuments in Evaton and Bloemfontein, respectively. The first will be a statue of Charlotte Manye Maxeke, in Evaton, where she and her husband established Wilberforce Institute in 1908; the second will be a statue of Abram Fischer, one of the most illustrious sons of the Afrikaner people, in his hometown Bloemfontein. [Applause.]
During the latter part of this year, we shall also unveil a sculpture executed by Noriah Mabasa, dedicated to the women of South Africa, as part of the commemoration of the 1956 march on Pretoria. The Women’s Monument, at the Union Buildings, will also be refurbished as part of this year’s celebrations. The Wesleyan Church Hall, in the old Waaihoek Location in Bloemfontein, the venue of the inaugural conference of the ANC, will also become part of our heritage estate.
The year 2006 is probably overloaded as a year for heritage. Apart from the 50th anniversary of the Women’s March on Pretoria, it is also the centenary of the Anti-Poll Tax Rebellion, of Satyagraha – the technique of non- violent resistance pioneered by Gandhi while he was in South Africa; the 30th anniversary of the Soweto Students’ Uprising; the 60th anniversary of the African Mineworkers’ Strike; and the tenth anniversary of our Constitution.
The Department of Arts and Culture has been tasked with giving leadership in marking all these anniversaries and I chair an Interministerial Committee responsible for co-ordinating the various departments of government.
In July 2005, working with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, we hosted the 29th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Durban. That event was a coup for Sub-Saharan Africa and coincided with the inscription of our newest World Heritage Site, the Vredefort Dome in the Free State, and the extension of the Cradle of Humankind to include Taung in North West and Mokopane’s Cave in Limpopo.
Significantly, this has culminated in the establishment and launch of an African World Heritage Fund through which African governments committed themselves to the preservation, protection and promotion of Africa’s heritage. Hopefully, this will result in fewer African sites being on the endangered list and more African sites being on the world heritage list. South Africa took the lead in proposing and piloting the heritage fund through the councils of the United Nations educational and cultural organisations and at the African Union.
Our National Heritage Council is rallying civil society’s support to put the heritage issue on the public agenda and to raise awareness of our heritage sites amongst our people. The South African Heritage Resources Agency continues to identify and promote new heritage sites and is conducting an audit of movable cultural property. This will assist us in fighting the illicit trade in African heritage resources.
The theme for this year’s Heritage Day is “Our Indigenous Music”, and we will be celebrating it in Cape Town to coincide with South African Music Week and Moshito, the National Music Conference Expo, during which we take stock of the music industry, its development and new trends.
Heritage is inseparable from our National Archives, Libraries and Heraldry. To promote our national symbols, together with the Department of Education, we launched the “Flag in every School Project” at the A Z Berman School in Mitchells Plain. We plan to roll out the project across all the provinces over the next two years.
We are currently building a multi-million rand, state of the art new home for our National Archives. We hope to open the northern campus of the National Library in the centre of Pretoria in early 2008. One billion rand has been set aside for the development of our libraries over the next three years and a Library Transformation Charter is being developed. The thrust of all this is to cultivate a reading culture amongst South Africans.
The new library development pilot project in Mdantsane, Buffalo City, will be a trial run for a new vision of public libraries as more than just depositories for books, but as cultural centres, which can also serve communities as points at which to access government services.
The dearth of literature in the African languages still poses a huge challenge. This year, a small publishing house, based here in Cape Town, with encouragement from the Ministry, rose to the challenge and has already published two titles in isiXhosa - the African language most widely spoken in this province. New Africa Books has also taken the plunge, by re- printing W B Rubusana’s Anthology of Xhosa Epic Poetry, “Zemk’Inkomo Magwalandini”.
The Department of Arts and Culture’s own efforts to stimulate writing and publishing in the indigenous languages are slowly bearing fruit. During 2005 we awarded a number of prizes to authors who had written in Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Sepedi and isiZulu. These literary awards will be augmented when we mount the Literary Heroes Campaign, which includes the celebration of the Life and Works of Solomon T Plaatje.
Our government has made a commitment to rescue the Timbuktu Manuscripts, ensuring that they are restored and the information they contain is preserved for posterity. That project is now very well advanced and we hosted an academic conference on the Timbuktu Manuscripts here in Cape Town during August 2005. The papers written and discussed at that conference will be reproduced as a book towards the end of January 2007, both as a contribution to knowledge, but also for the more utilitarian purpose of disseminating information about these important writings and their restoration.
As we consolidate our democracy and our people become more certain about their future, interesting gems are being uncovered in the dust of yesteryear. It recently came to light that a number of Cape Muslim families have in their possession what might be invaluable diaries and manuscripts, written in various Indonesian dialects as well as in Afrikaans, employing the Arabic script.
In co-operation with the Muslim community leaders of the Cape, we shall be embarking on a project to have some of these translated. We trust that our scholars and universities will be prepared to play a role in rescuing these works from oblivion.
Arts and Culture in peri-urban and rural areas has transformed the lives of many and contributed directly to the fight against poverty. By March 2006 we had created 1 612 new jobs. The overwhelming majority of beneficiaries, 68%, were women, and 8,2% were disabled. They have thus far performed 196 154 person days of work, 44 526 of which were devoted to training.
More than 100 learners have been enrolled in learnerships and skills development programmes directly linked to arts and culture. To grow the economy and narrow the gap between the first and second economies, through investing in culture projects, we have invested 31,5% of available funds in nodal municipalities to support the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development and Urban Renewal Programmes.
The successes we have scored are exemplified by a R55 000 labour contract awarded by Woolworths to the Tsohang ke Iketsetse Basotho Project, located in Qwaqwa in the Free State, as well as award-winning projects we have supported, such as the Hothouse Film Incubator in Gauteng, the Cape Craft Design Institute and the Grandmothers Against Poverty project in the Western Cape, which have all been celebrated for innovation and their contributions to national life.
Overall, we are allocating R91 million to invest in culture. The Department of Arts and Culture adds an important dimension to South Africa’s international relations through the cultural agreements we have reached with a number of countries. Beyond the shores of our continent, we have concluded a number of agreements during the course of the past year, yielding remarkable results for our country and its people.
Thanks to a cultural agreement with France, South Africa was able to host the first-ever exhibition of the work of Pablo Picasso on the African continent. Picasso and the school of modern art he was associated with readily accepted their debt to African sculptors, which gave rise to the art movement known as cubism. With the assistance of Standard Bank, the Embassy of France and the Picasso Museum in Paris, Iziko National Gallery here in Cape Town played host to this important exhibition.
Reports indicate that it was amongst the best patronised exhibitions to visit our shores, and was visited by a number of school pupils. I have signed yet another cultural agreement with my French counterpart when I attended the Cannes Film Festival last week. We hope to reciprocate the Picasso exhibition by mounting a major South African cultural festival, spread across a number of artistic disciplines, in France before 2009.
I also signed a film co-production agreement with the United Kingdom, building on a memorandum of understanding signed two years ago in Cape Town. We already have eight out of ten trainee curators seconded to British galleries and museums.
The Slave Lodge, here in Cape Town, will be entering into a relationship with a sister institution in Liverpool. The twinning of these two museums will not only be mutually enriching but could also add an important dimension to our understanding of one of the darker chapters in human history.
With the assistance of the British Council, our two countries will engage in exchanges in the performing arts that will result in more South African performers gaining access to arts festivals in Britain. We will reciprocate by inviting British performers to our festivals. We can expect to stage a number of performances during the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2008.
Norway, Sweden, Germany, Canada and Australia are some of the countries with which we have reached similar agreements. The long-standing cultural agreement with Flanders continues to give support to our community arts projects.
Our cultural links with the rest of the world have increased exponentially as South Africa assumes her rightful place in world affairs. South Africa will participate in the Venice International Biennale during September this year. When Brazil hosts artists from India and South Africa later this year, we can expect to see a number of South African acts showcased.
Two years ago, Mexico showcased South African performers at her most prestigious arts festival, the Cervantino. This June, the city of Cartagena, in Spain, Cervantes’s native land, will host South Africa at its annual festival.
We have been invited to fly the “Africa’s time is now” flag during the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany. At the invitation of the German authorities we will be mounting a cultural programme that will include the performing arts and crafts in Berlin and Cologne, to create a top-of-the-mind awareness of South Africa as the next host country for the World Cup in 2010. Madam Speaker, given these ambitious plans, we shall be allocating R19 million to our international relations in this year’s budget.
South Africa’s cultural industries and their potential for wealth generation and job creation have been underestimated for far too long. Under the stewardship of the incumbent Ministry we have begun a comprehensive mapping of our cultural industries with a view to maximising their contribution to the national economy.
After the extremely successful Crafts Expo in Mafikeng last December, we will be mounting a major crafts expo in Pretoria in November this year to offer a high-profile showcase to our crafters. The Beautiful Things Exhibition, designed to showcase crafts in Soweto, will hopefully become a retail brand. We have already secured an important contract with a major overseas retailer, which can become a platform for South African crafters to become major players in the international market.
The impact of South African music and musicians on the world stage is an established fact. Despite this no one could claim that our musicians are getting a fair deal, at home or abroad. The Department of Arts and Culture has tried in a number of ways to improve the situation of our musicians and, where necessary, we have given them backing in their dealings with international promoters and companies.
With the Department of Arts and Culture’s assistance the family of the late Solomon Linda, the composer of “Mbube”, won an out-of-court settlement from Disney Studios after years of litigation over the use of their father’s composition in the blockbuster film The Lion King. [Applause.]
Securing the intellectual property rights of South African musicians remains a huge challenge, which has been compounded by the rapid development of new information and communications technologies as well as the shameful practice of pirating of music that takes place here in South Africa. A proposed levy on the sale of blank recording tapes and CDs has been mooted, but I suspect that technology has already overtaken us.
We have repeatedly told the Moshito Conference that the South African recording industry is an untapped gold mine. During Heritage Month we plan to fast-track the entry of South African music into the international market by commencing a well-targeted campaign to promote our music product internationally. The establishment of an Independent Record Companies Association, our recently gained access to Midem in France, as well as the footholds we have gained by exposure at international festivals should serve us well.
This year will also see the realisation of a project that is very close to my heart, the unveiling of South Africa’s first jazz orchestra, under the leadership of Dr Abdullah Ibrahim. This will be the first of the two large instrumental ensembles I undertook to build during my first budget debate in 2004.
The building blocks of the second are being slowly assembled through initiatives such as “Mzantsi’s tribute to Oliver Tambo”, which was very successfully staged by Victor Ntoni at Gallagher Estate on 28 October 2005, as well as ESP’s “The Exile’s Re-Initiation”, staged in Port Elizabeth in December 2005.
These highly experimental initiatives have served not only to revive old choral classics by indigenous composers, but have also demonstrated the versatility of the various musical idioms and styles that were thought to be incompatible.
Over the past 12 months, South Africa’s relatively young film industry has again won kudos in the international arena. Most recently, a young South African was chosen as the winner of the Student Oscar at the Hollywood Academy of Motion Pictures.
Four other young South Africans, from Cape Town, had the courage to submit their short film for the Cannes Film Festival. Though they did not walk away with the prize, their film was amongst the top ten in that category. Coming so soon after the Oscar won by our local feature film Tsotsi, these are portents of a promising future for our film industry.
During the first decade of democracy South Africa became a favourite destination for moviemakers from every part of the world, attracted by our beautiful climate and low prices. Foreign filmmakers continue to shoot their films here and their work contributes billions to our national economy.
In order to make South Africa even more inviting, our Department of Trade and Industry introduced an indirect subsidy for foreign filmmakers by offering them a handsome tax rebate. While this rebate makes perfect sense from every point of view as we begin to establish ourselves as a film- producing country, we shall have to revisit such measures so as to maximise the benefits accruing to our South African film industry and our own filmmakers.
The National Film and Video Foundation, through which the Department of Arts and Culture supports film and video production, will see its budget increased to R35,8 million this year. We are also engaged in exploring new and creative ways of funding films so that the NFVF will not be exclusively dependent on government.
A national theatre indaba, planned for 2006, will be a partnership between the Community Theatre Development Network and the Department of Arts and Culture to create a platform for theatre practitioners to meet at national level to deliberate on the key challenges facing theatre in this country.
We will also witness interesting developments in theatre during the course of the next six months, including the staging of Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot in Pollsmoor Prison, by a cast drawn from the inmates of that prison as part of our Arts in Prison project, run in collaboration with the Department of Correctional Services.
In that context I must mention the name of Albert Thomas, one of Cape Town’s oldest theatre practitioners, whose untimely death last year robbed this country of a major talent. Waiting for Godot behind bars was his idea. I once again extend our condolences to his family and friends.
In addition to the Dumile Feni Retrospective, mounted in Johannesburg and Cape Town, we expect to see an Ernest Mancoba Retrospective here in Cape Town and possibly one also for George Pemba.
I am compelled to say something about the National Arts Council. I dissolved the board of that council in 2004 because it had lost the confidence of the arts community. Owing to lengthy litigations we have been unable to reconstitute the National Arts Council. But I hope to be able to constitute an arts council during the course of July this year.
I think it is important to note that despite the misgivings, fears and scepticism expressed by many hasty critics, the personnel of the National Arts Council have been able to perform their duties well, even in the absence of a board.
To be sure, there are inevitably companies and personalities who have not been happy or have been disappointed by the decisions regarding their funding. But on the whole the arts community does not appear unduly aggrieved by the absence of a board. The National Arts Council will receive R62,08 million for its work this year.
Madam Speaker, we are indeed living through an “Age of Hope” as the people of South Africa begin to harvest the fruits of freedom and democracy. In the field of arts and culture, our country has repeatedly been crowned with a laurel wreath for its achievements. We hope to be able to keep that up in the way we conduct our work, by creating an environment in which the South African people, in all their diversity, can have the opportunity to express themselves culturally. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr M R SONTO: Madam Speaker, Ministers present here, Deputy Ministers, hon members, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen, comrades and friends, I gladly follow the Minister of Arts and Culture uJola. As I rise on behalf of the ANC to support this budget, I am reminded that over 50 years ago South Africans declared that when they were liberated the doors of learning and culture should be opened. This exercise therefore is in pursuit of that declaration.
South Africa’s diverse and dynamic arts and culture heritage is one of its richest and most important resources, with an enormous potential to generate significant economic and social benefits. Since its establishment in 2004, the Department of Arts and Culture has been succeeding in promoting and developing South Africa’s arts and culture, and protecting and promoting the country’s heritage, legacy sites, museums and galleries.
As complex as that task has been, anniversaries that the country has commemorated or are about to commemorate are an indication that we are moving forward as a country. These anniversaries include the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the new Constitution for the Republic of South Africa, the 30th anniversary of the 16 June 1976 uprising, the centenary of the poll tax uprising led by Bambatha, the 50th anniversary of the women’s march to the Union Buildings in August 1956, and many other anniversaries.
These anniversaries epitomise the kind of hurdles we had to jump, the rivers we had to cross and the bruises we had to suffer when the governments of those days ran arts and culture on a race card. Where we are today is in a big way the result of those processes and struggles. The roles of the Ministry, the Department of Arts and Culture and related public entities must complement one another if we are to succeed in transforming arts and culture and the heritage landscape.
What should not be left out are mechanisms to seek means to ensure that communities generate economic benefits from the processes that we engage in. The project of social cohesion is crucial in the broader role of nation- building, and the Department of Arts and Culture is a key role-player in this. The Ministry and the department must intensify their roles in educating the public about the unifying role of the Constitution, broadly speaking.
Arts and culture, without leaning heavily on the rest of the Constitution, would be meaningless in our country. It is from the Constitution that we derive the ethics and values that guarantee our being. The 10 years of freedom and democracy have freed the art and cultural practices of our nation from the severe limitations of the past. However, we still have a mammoth task of giving sufficient support to this sector. It is therefore appropriate that Asgisa has identified the creative industry as a key and strategic sector.
As the ANC we support the call of the department to all stakeholders to support arts and culture initiatives, because of their usefulness to the spiritual health of the nation, including its potential for job creation and poverty alleviation. Because of complexities in the process of transformation and the need to go forward, I am reminded of Ben Okri’s words, which were pronounced in this House earlier this year by the Minister of Finance, and I quote:
The joys that spring from the challenges are profound. And the challenges will always be there. As long as there are human beings there will be challenges. Let no one speak of frontiers exhausted, all challenges met, all problems solved.
Madam Speaker, that statement talks to the problems that the department may be facing in its task, but also reminds us of the need to be patient and to persevere. This department is also faced with challenges that it should confront. If I were to mention but a few, they would be the following.
The issue of compliance with co-operative governance principles and requirements must remain a focus of the department. Financial probity and ethical practices by board members and officials in institutions the department is working with constitute an important issue for us in the ANC and the committee in our campaign for clean governance.
The relationship between the department and each one of these entities requires improvement. There have been concerns that, having established these entities, the department has continued to take initiatives considered a duplication of these entities. If that is the case, it needs to be looked into and be corrected.
Another challenge is that amongst some of these entities there exists current role confusion and/or a belief that there is unnecessary fragmentation. If that is the case, we need to look into that and resolve that problem. Is it therefore not appropriate to review the work of some of these entities with a view to bringing about more clarity and certainty about roles and responsibilities?
Reference has been made to some of these entities, such as the National Heritage Council, the National Heritage Trust and the SA Heritage Association. Sometimes people cannot differentiate between these bodies. Another two are the National Language Service and PanSALB. We need to look into those.
Further, Minister, a painful feeling exists out there that artists are left on their own, and the wolves are freely feeding on them. How about considering legislative support to initiatives aimed at protecting artists and cultural workers? Here I am reminded of an old story.
Ingcuka okanye ixhwili ekwakukholelwa ekubeni ziinyamakazi zasebusuku ezixhwila abantu. Bekusithi kweza zindlu zingoongquphantsi yakufika ingcuka ixhwile umntu, akhale engakwazi ukuzinceda esithi, “Yandithatha, yandibeka.” Bathi ababukeleyo nabafuna ukunceda loo mntu kuba besazi ukuba ingcuka okanye ixwhili liyasoyika isikhuni esinomlilo, kuthiwe, “gibisela ngesikhuni.” ukwenzela into yokuba kusindiswe loo mntu. Nawe ke Mphathiswa xa amagcisa ethu engamaxhoba ala maxhwili, gibisela ngesikhuni. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Hyenas or African wild dogs are believed to be nocturnal wild animals, but they do attack people. When the hyena gets to the mud house it will seize a person, and that person will cry for not being able to help himself saying that “It has caught me and holds me down.” Those who are watching and seeking to help that person, knowing that the hyena or African wild dog is afraid of a burning stick will say, “Toss a burning stick at it to save this person.’’ The same applies to you, Minister. When our artists become victims of these hyenas, toss a burning stick at those hyenas. [Applause.]]
Much needs to be done in terms of the promotion of multilingualism as a contribution towards nation-building and social cohesion, and the promotion of mother-tongue education to improve the overall performance of pupils in their education efforts. Madam Speaker, it is not only for pupils, but will be of benefit even for members of this august House, so that they will stop saying “Benjamin Netanyau”, but when you say they should pronounce “Nyanga”, they say “Nayanga”. [Laughter.] When they have to say “Mfeketho”, they pronounce it “Mafeketho”, and they say “Mapetho” instead of “Mphetho”
- there is no “Ma” in that word, it’s “Mp”. That education should therefore also benefit members of this House.
The relationship between arts and cultural workers and municipalities across the country leaves much to be desired. A case in point is our oversight visit to Mpumalanga in 2004. We found out that these cultural workers were not being paid in time for services rendered and they complained about prohibitive regulations and access fees in respect of facilities for practise and performance. This is not only a problem in Mpumalanga; it is a problem across the country.
Minister, can we save our cultural workers? As the ANC and the committee, we think a focused discussion about these issues between councillors, officials and arts and cultural workers should take place. One of those platforms could be the growth and development summits that are planned for each of the districts and metros in the country. There is no doubt that arts and culture play a crucial part in all our city and town profiles.
We urge the Minister to convey these viewpoints and share with relevant stakeholders best practices about these issues, using local and international examples. Madam Speaker, arts and culture have this cross- cutting presence in our society. And, hon Minister, I would be interested in understanding interdepartmental co-operation in pursuance of intended objectives, with special reference to budget implications.
While the budget has remained in the main static, there remains a strong case for more funding allocation to this department. We will, as the ANC, under its stewardship, drive our processes and unite this nation and preserve the heritage of this country. The ANC supports the budget. I thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.] Mev D VAN DER WALT: Agb Speaker, Minister, Adjunkminister en kollegas, met inagneming van die Grondliggende Bepalings en die Handves van Regte soos vervat in ons Grondwet, en die visie en missie van die Departement van Kuns en Kultuur, die volgende: in u posisie as Minister van die portefeulje is dit u verantwoordelikheid om die leiding te neem en die implementering van bogenoemde te verseker.
Taal in Suid-Afrika, Minister, behoort nie verdelend te wees nie. Ons kan en moet ons diverse, opwindende samelewing ontwikkel, en kan dit regkry indien ál die mense uit ál 11 ons taalgemeenskappe hulle beywer vir die beginsels in ons Grondwet.
In sy ondersteuning van afsonderlike penklubs is Mhlobo Jadezweni, skrywer en letterkundige, in die kol wanneer hy onder andere sê:
’n Klem op steun aan die minder ontwikkelde tale deur die reeds gevestigdes sal tot groot trots aanleiding gee as enige van die Suid- Afrikaanse tale ’n prestasie behaal.
Tog, wanneer ons eerstens na ons inheemse tale kyk, hoekom kan ons nie verder beweeg as om die tale net tot gerieflike spreektale te beperk nie? Dit moet sodanig ontwikkel dat dit in alle moderne aktiwiteite benut en gebruik kan word.
Watter stappe het u die afgelope twee jaar as beskermheer van tale gedoen om te verseker dat ook u kollegas in ander departemente die publiek in hulle eie taal bedien? Ons Grondwet bepaal immers ook dat streeksomstandighede en die ewewig van die behoeftes en voorkeure van die bevolking as geheel in die betrokke provinsie in aanmerking geneem moet word. Ook moet munisipaliteite die taalgebruike en voorkeure van hulle inwoners in aanmerking neem.
Oor Afrikaans spesifiek het u verlede jaar tydens die begrotingsdebat, en trouens vanoggend ook, gesê: “Afrikaans is a South African language … We will protect it, defend it and promote it,” maar gedurende die taaldebat by die Universiteit van Stellenbosch het u nie ’n enkele woord gesê nie. En wat sê u oor moedertaalonderrig? U is besonder stil.
Die DA hou by ons standpunt dat daar ten minste twee Afrikaanse universiteite, een in die noorde en een in die suide van ons land, behoue moet bly, natuurlik met die insluiting van ander taalgroepe. Dit het tyd geword dat die ANC-beheerde regering aanvaar en erken dat Afrikaans as taal ontkoppel behoort te word van sy stigma as taal van die verdrukker en dat daar nie langer teen Afrikaans gediskrimineer moet word nie.
Dringende navorsing moet gedoen word met betrekking tot die rol van inheemse tale in die ekonomiese sektor. Onlangs het die taalkenner dr Neville Alexander tydens ’n lesing ook daarna verwys. Ook is prof Esther Ramani, senior lektor by die Universiteit van Limpopo, besig om vir gebruikers van inheemse tale ’n toekoms in die ekonomie te skep deur ’n BA- graadkursus. Dit sal mense van dié arm provinsie werkgeleenthede in ’n wye veld in hulle eie taal bied.
Kan ek byvoeg dat die befondsing hiervoor nié van die ANC-beheerde regering kom nie, maar wel van ’n buitelandse instansie! Ek vra dat u dringend met die universiteit in aanraking kom en saam met die Departement van Onderwys planne in aksie stel vir befondsing sodat die kursus se toekoms verseker kan word.
Die ontwikkeling en gebruik van ook die Khoi-, Nama- en Santale, en gebaretaal moet drasties verbeter word. In die Rapport van 1 September 2002 sê prof Rosalie Findlayson die volgende: “Wanneer ’n taal uitsterf, is die rykdom van die bepaalde taalgroep se kulturele erfenis daarmee heen.”
Ons onderskat ook nie die proses van bewusmaking van die slawetydperk in ons geskiedenis nie. Die persepsies wat egter dikwels geskep word dat dié inheemse mense maar altyd slawe was, is vér verwyder van die waarheid! Wat van die era toe inboorlinge na Tafelberg verwys het as “Hû! Gais,” oftewel “The Great Storm Rocks”, wat later verander het na “Cabo dos Tormentos,” oftewel “The Cape of Storms”, en weer later verander is na die bekende “Cabo da Boa Esperança”, oftewel “The Cape of Good Hope”? En wat van die era toe daar nog lewe en betekenis was in name soos Tarrakamma, Matzikamma, Keiskamma en Tsitsikamma?
Ons moet nog op die linguistieke spoor loop van onder andere Shona, soos in Masjonaland, Komati; Ab soos in Gari-Ab en Karoo. Die spoor sal ons baie ver lei. Dit is egter ’n pad wat geloop moet word as ons ware substansie wil gee aan die deel van ’n erfenis wat die toets van die tyd en die kruisondervraging van die geskiedenis, argeologie, godsdiens en antropologie sal deurstaan.
Die noodsaaklikheid van die ontwikkeling en bevordering van ’n leeskultuur, gestimuleer deur goed opgeleide onderwysers en met maklike toegang tot goed toegeruste biblioteke is van kardinale belang, en ek hoop die Minister sal ook na ons voorstelle luister. Ons sou graag wil sien dat byvoorbeeld die afskaffing van BTW by die aankoop van boeke dringend aandag kry en dat mobiele biblioteke, waarvoor ek voorheen al gevra het, voorkeuraandag geniet, veral in plattelandse gebiede. Ons moet reeds by voorskoolse kinders die liefde vir lees ontwikkel. Alle biblioteke, ook dié by skole, móét boeke in Afrikatale aanhou.
Die portefeuljekomitee kry nou sy vierde voorsitter sedert 2004, wat glad nie bevorderlik is vir die taak wat ons opgelê is nie. Ek stel voor dat indien u ernstig is oor nasiebou, u die DA in dié posisie aanstel. [Tussenwerpsels.]
Dit is kommerwekkend dat slegs vier van die 27 entiteite in u departement ongekwalifiseerde ouditverslae van die Ouditeur-generaal ontvang het. Dis duidelik dat hier dringende ingryping moet plaasvind, en dit is dan ook duidelik dat daar sekere probleme in u departement is. Ek moet sê, ook die wyse waarop u my vrae soms met absolute sarkasme beantwoord, dui eintlik dat daar probleme is.
Die gedurige verwysing na ras deur u woordvoerder in sy persoonlike hoedanigheid in die pers, waar hulle noem dat hy die woordvoerder van u departement is, is 100% strydig met nasiebou. [Tussenwerpsels.]
Ek kan nie nalaat om u te bedank daarvoor dat u nie ’n oorhaastige, ondeurdagte besluit geneem het ten opsigte van die voorgestelde naamsverandering van Pretoria nie. Tog moet die kwessie ook nou tot finaliteit kom. [Tussenwerpsels.] U aankondiging dat dit die hoofstad is en vir eers Pretoria sal bly, word verwelkom, maar word steeds deur die Tshwane-munisipaliteit, die SABC - soos hulle hul deesdae bekendstel – en u eie amptenare geïgnoreer! Selfs die voorgestelde gebied wat by aanvaarding van die aansoek steeds Pretoria sal bly, word deur u amptenare Tshwane genoem, en omdat daar tans glad nie so ’n pleknaam geregistreer is nie, vra en pleit ek by u dat u die gebruik van die naam Tshwane in plaas van Pretoria stopsit. [Tussenwerpsels.]
Minister, my tyd is om, en ek wou graag, omdat u laaskeer nie in die Huis was nie, vir u voorgelees het uit regter H A Fagan se Afrikaanse vertaling van 1946 van “Nkosi sikelel’ i-Afrika,” maar ek is seker u het die Groot Verseboek van André P Brink en sal dit self kan lees. [Tussenwerpsels.] En, André Gaum, jy hoef nie vir my te sit en skree nie; jy’s ’n Afrikaner. Dankie, Voorsitter. (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)
[Mrs D VAN DER WALT: Hon Speaker, Minister, Deputy Minister and colleagues, considering the Founding Provisions and the Bill of Rights as contained in our Constitution, and the vision and mission of the Department of Arts and Culture, the following: in your position as Minister of the portfolio it is your responsibility to take charge and to ensure the implementation of the above-mentioned.
Language in South Africa, Minister, should not be divisive. We can and must develop our diverse, exciting society and can succeed in doing so if all the people from all 11 of our language communities strive for the principles in our Constitution.
In his support for separate pen clubs Mhlobo Jadezweni, writer and man of letters, hits the nail on the head when he says, inter alia, that emphasis on support for the less developed languages by the already established ones will result in a lot of pride if any of the South African languages attain an achievement.
Even so, when, in the first place, we look at our indigenous languages, why can we not move further than merely limiting the languages to convenient spoken languages? They must develop to such an extent that they can be utilised and used in all modern activities.
What steps have you as patron of languages taken over the past two years to ensure that your colleagues in other departments also serve the public in their own language? In fact, our Constitution also provides that regional circumstances and the balance of the needs and preferences of the population as a whole in the relevant province must be taken into consideration. Municipalities must also take the language practices and preferences of their inhabitants into consideration.
Regarding Afrikaans in particular you said during the budget debate of last year, and in fact also this morning: ”Afrikaans is a South African language … We will protect it, defend it and promote it”, but during the language debate at the University of Stellenbosch you did not utter a single word. And what do you say about mother-tongue education? You are very quiet.
The DA maintains the standpoint that at least two Afrikaans universities, one in the north and one in the south of our country, should be retained, naturally including other language groups. The time has come for the ANC- controlled government to accept and admit that Afrikaans as a language should be freed from its stigma as the language of the oppressor and that Afrikaans should no longer be discriminated against.
Urgent research should be done with regard to the role of indigenous languages in the economic sector. Recently the linguist Dr Neville Alexander also referred to this during a lecture. Prof Esther Ramani, senior lecturer at the University of Limpopo, is also creating a future in the economy for users of indigenous languages by means of a BA degree course. This will offer people from this poor province job opportunities in a wide field in their own language.
May I add that the funding for this does not come from the ANC-controlled government, but from an overseas institution! I request you urgently to contact the university and, together with the Department of Education, set plans in motion for funding so that the future of this course may be ensured.
The development and use of the Khoi, Nama and San languages, as well as sign language must be drastically improved. In Rapport of 1 September 2002 Prof Rosalie Findlayson said the following: When a language dies out, the wealth of the relevant language group’s cultural heritage is lost.”
Nor do we underestimate the process of creating an awareness of the period of slavery in our history. However, the perception so often created that these indigenous people had always been slaves is far removed from the truth! What about the era when indigenous people referred to Table Mountain as “Hû Gais”, that is “The Great Storm Rocks”, which later changed to “Cabo dos Tormentos”, that is “The Cape of Storms”, and was again changed later to “Cabo da Boa Esperança”, that is “The Cape of Good Hope”? And what about the era when there was still life and meaning in names such as Tarrakamma, Matzikamma, Keiskamma and Tsitsikamma?
We still have to follow the linguistic trail of, inter alia, Shona, as in Mashonaland, Komati; Ab as in Gari-Ab and Karoo. The trail will lead us very far. However, it is a path that has to be followed if we want to give true substance to the part of a heritage that will withstand the test of time and the cross-questioning of history, archaeology, religion and anthropology.
The necessity of developing and promoting a reading culture, stimulated by well-trained teachers and with easy access to well-equipped libraries, is of the utmost importance, and I hope that the Minister will also listen to our proposals. We would like to see, for example, the abolition of VAT when books are purchased receiving urgent attention and mobile libraries, which I have already requested in the past, receiving priority attention, especially in rural areas. We must inculcate a love of reading in pre- school children. All libraries, including those at schools, must keep books in African languages.
The portfolio committee is now getting its fourth chairman since 2004, which is not at all conducive to the task imposed on us. I suggest that, if you are serious about nation-building, you appoint the DA to this position. [Interjections.]
It is alarming that only four of the 27 entities in your department received unqualified audit reports from the Auditor-General. It is clear that urgent intervention must take place here, and it is also clear that there are certain problems in your department. I must say, the way in which you sometimes reply to my questions with absolute sarcasm actually also indicates that there are problems.
The constant reference to race by your spokesperson in his personal capacity in the press, where they mention that he is the spokesperson for your department, is 100% in conflict with nation- building. [Interjections.]
I cannot refrain from thanking you for the fact that you have not made an overhasty, ill-considered decision in respect of the proposed name change of Pretoria. Even so, the matter must now be finalised. [Interjections.] Your announcement that it is the capital city and will remain Pretoria for now, is welcomed, but is still being ignored by the Tshwane Municipality, the SABC – as they call themselves nowadays - and your own officials! Even the proposed area, which is to remain Pretoria even after the acceptance of the application, is called Tshwane by your officials and, because no such place name has been registered at present, I ask and beg you to put a stop to the use of the name Tshwane instead of Pretoria. [Interjections.]
Minister, my time has expired, and because you were not in the House last time, I wanted to read aloud to you from Justice H A Fagan’s 1946 Afrikaans translation of “Nkosi sikelel’ i-Afrika”, but I am sure that you have André P Brink’s Groot Verseboek and that you will be able to read it yourself. [Interjections.] And, André Gaum, you don’t have to sit and shout at me; you’re an Afrikaner. Thank you, Chairperson.]
Mrs N D MBOMBO: Madam Speaker, Minister of Arts and Culture, hon members …
… ndiyanibulisa nani enikwelo cala … [… I greet you also up there …]
… our future Ministers of Arts and Culture. You are the future parliamentarians, and you must stick to that. [Applause.]
Ndithetha nani ke bantwana besikolo. [I am referring to you, young people.] The Department of Arts and Culture has interpreted the vision of the Freedom Charter to address the previously inadequate framework for arts and culture, which the ANC-led government inherited and corrected. A broad guiding framework, the White Paper on Arts and Culture and Heritage was passed, out of which flowed a number of policies and programmes. A central component of this framework was to redirect and grow the arts and culture project.
Moreover, we are given a mandate to explore and utilise arts and culture for social and economic regeneration. In terms of this mandate, a new Chief Directorate: Arts and Culture in Society was established in 2003. In the main, Arts and Culture in Society will seek to define a role for arts in relation to a range of social challenges.
In this regard the department has now developed multipronged strategies to create intergovernmental synergies and institutional arrangements to enhance deliverables across all spheres. This entails, inter alia, skills development and creative interventions in the second cultural economy through a programme of auditing and mapping activities in the second economy. These are certainly welcome developments, since they will augment the role of arts and culture as a major economic contributor.
It goes without saying that under the political leadership of Comrade Pallo Jordan the department’s socioeconomic imperatives have gained the kind of momentum we expected. The national cultural mood is more positive than ever before. We have a booming cultural tourism industry. Our film industry is proud of the success of Tsotsi. Last year we hosted the 29th session of the World Heritage Committee.
In other words, South Africa is enjoying recognition and progress. This shows indisputably that this is indeed the age of hope. Perceptions that might otherwise exist have been negated by this sense of optimism. However, Minister, the poorest sector of our society still experiences economic conditions that are less favourable, while they remain confident that our government can deliver.
It is against this background that I would like to focus on what we in the ANC consider important in terms of developing our country and promoting its unique and rich tapestry of cultural conditions. But how do we do this? As a government for the people we have a political responsibility to ensure the fulfilment of key objectives and broader government imperatives.
Central to this, we believe, is the provision of support and assistance that is consistent with job creation and economic development. To this end we need increased consciousness about the socioeconomic empowerment opportunities available within the realm of arts and culture, which brings me to the role that community art centres can play in this regard.
As we all know, community art centres are positioned to serve as leading centres for poverty alleviation in both rural and urban areas. We have examples of thriving local projects at many community art centres. Furthermore, it is at these community art centres where the creative instincts of women, the youth and persons with disabilities find expression. It is at these centres where the people’s contract must have the desired effect. It is also at these centres where social cohesion is evident in their lives.
From an Asgisa perspective, it is critical that we increase our efforts to demonstrate to our people, particularly the poor, that as government we have the drivers to bring about meaningful socioeconomic transformation. In fact, two of the key pillars of Asgisa are awareness of opportunities and supporting ongoing initiatives.
A major obstacle is and remains access to information. It is incumbent upon us to popularise all the opportunities available to strengthen our efforts for the creation of a better life for all.
During the state of the nation address President Thabo Mbeki alluded to the importance of integrated communication to strengthen social partnerships. And in this regard we call upon the private sector and other stakeholders to assist with translating the President’s call into reality.
Similarly, we want to urge the department to continue with its efforts to ensure an environment conducive to growth in arts and culture in general, and community art centres in particular. Special attention should be focused on infrastructure development and provincial projects, and, most importantly, interventions in the second economy.
Somlomo, vumelana nam xa ndisithi lo rhulumente okhokelwa nguKhongolozi simthembile ukuba uza kusibuyisa isidima sethu, ngokuvula amathuba emisebenzi kwezokhenketho, ukuze zitsho iindwendwe zithenge imifanekiso yethu eqingqiweyo. Ukanti kwakhona xa iNdebe yoMhlaba ilapha eMzantsi Afrika iSebe leZobugqi noBugcisa liza kudlala indima enkulu, ngokubonisa imixhentso yethu nangokuthengisa imizobo yethu ukuze siphuhlise ezoqoqosho.
Sicela uRhulumente ke ngoko ukuba akhusele abantu ekuqhathweni ngabo banyolukileyo. Mandibulele kakhulu kuni baPhathiswa ngokuthi gqolo nithetha iilwimi zethu. Abantu bayayivuyela loo nto, ibenza bathande nokumamela. Mandichaze ke kodwa ukuba ngaphaya emaXesibeni nakuGatyane kanti nasemaMpondweni abantu basasibuza ukuba yintoni na le Asgisa. Ndicela undincede kuloo ndawo ke, nkosi. UKhongololozi uyaluxhasa olu Hlahlo- lwabiwo-mali. Ndiyabulela. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Speaker, I am sure members agree with me when I say we have confidence that this government that is led by the ANC will return our dignity by creating jobs in tourism, so that the tourists can buy our sculptures. When the World Cup is here in South Africa, the Department of Arts and Culture will play a major role in exposing our traditional dances, and in selling our art to enhance economic development.
We therefore request our government to protect our people from being robbed by moneylenders. Let me thank you, Ministers, for continuously speaking our language. People are enjoying that and it makes them interested in listening more. Let me be honest and say to you, the people in Willowvale and in Pondoland are still enquiring as to what this Asgisa is all about. I’m asking you to help me there. The ANC supports this Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]]
Mr V B NDLOVU: Madam Speaker and the hon House …
… mhlonishwa nesekela likamhlonishwa, nabo bonke abakhona endlini ngiyanibingilela. [… hon Minister and hon Deputy Minister, and all those present in the House, I greet you.]
Imagine a world without “Mbube”, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, gospel singers, jazz, poetry, songs, crafts, traditional festivals, national dishes, pictures, photos, film and theatre. It would be a bleak and boring country. It is largely through arts and culture that the government must establish the delicate balance between uniting the country and celebrating its differences, between moving into the future and preserving the skills and stories of the past.
The Minister has tried to clean up the corruption and vagueness in some of the cultural institutions and make development and craft promotion sustainable and tourist-based. In many ways he has succeeded: witness the several cultural festivals held to celebrate and showcase music, songs and crafts. But not enough were held, apart from the few that have an established and strong following, such as the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. They tend to be haphazard in sourcing talent and craft.
The target was to fund and participate in 15 festivals from the budget of the programme for Arts and Culture in Society. It would be interesting to know, Mr Minister, how many were in fact held. The aim of the Arts and Culture in Society programme is crucial to this sector and too important to have the ten years of freedom celebration draw away budgetary support from it. Yes, the National Arts Council supports various disciplines in all forms of creative arts, but the spending is too little and, again, too haphazard to make a sufficiently meaningful contribution to developing a strong performing or visual arts community in South Africa.
The outreach to smaller groups and amateurs is important, but equally important is the development of the second tier of skilled artists. This would require the funding of dedicated educational institutions in all of the provinces to promote talented students in various arts. It would also require better training of successful amateur groups to help them develop the expertise to progress from amateur to professional, or to reach a standard where they will be sponsored for productions that go beyond workshops into financial viability.
Theatre is the best means of educating people about important lifestyle changes such as healthy living and eating, or HIV/Aids prevention. In large cities such as Johannesburg, corporates keep a talented group of professionals afloat through contracting them to educate workers. In rural areas the government does not step in where corporates fail.
The sponsorship of arts in schools has steadily declined, Mr Minister, over the past few years. Is this the fault of education or a lack of co- operation between the Department of Arts and Culture and the Department of Education?
While much was gained by expanding funding to the grass roots through the National Arts Council, something was also lost by weakening the provincial bodies such as Artscape, the Playhouse and Pact. They were involved in outreach programmes that were of a high standard and helped bridge the gap we speak of between excited amateurs and committed professionals.
One of the triumphs of the department’s programme was Tsotsi winning an Oscar. The moving event held in Parliament to honour Gavin Hood and his cast must have been a high point for the department. But how many Athol Fugards are there, and how many Gavin Hoods with connections in Los Angeles and the networking that comes from living abroad?
We need more support for local scriptwriters and more support at the highest level of film development to maximise on the storytelling potential of our diverse and interesting country, so that the excellence of films like Tsotsi can be repeated often.
The development of crafts has been put on a sound footing through better accountability, but most craft projects lack integration with the Department of Trade and Industry to develop the crafts beyond the level of poverty alleviation into a viable and sustainable world-class craft industry.
Kufanele mhlonishwa umnyango wezamasiko nobuchwepheshe ubambisane ngokupheleleyo nomnyango wezemfundo, ukwenza isiqiniseko ukuthi izilimi lezi ezikhulunywa kulelilizwe zonke ziyagxila emqondweni yabasha, afundayo nabakhulayo. Izifundazwe zonke kufanele zenze isiqiniseko sokuthi noma lukhona lukhulunywa ulimi lwesilungu, kodwa kufanele kube khona izilimi zethu ezibizwa ngezilimi zendabuko ukuze sikwazi ukuthi nalapho la sikhona izingane zethu zingagcini sezingabelungu abamnyama.
Lokhu kufanele sikwenze sikuqinisekise ukuthi uma kuthiwa kuyaphunyelelwa esikoleni, akushiwo ngoba umuntu ephumelele isilungu nesibhunu. Kufanele umuntu aphumelele noma kuyisiZulu kumbe isiTswana ngoba nalolu ulimi mhlonishwa okufanele lukhulunywe. Ngakho ke izilimi ezikhulunywa yithi emakhaya kufanele impela zigxiliswe la emnyangweni ukuze bonke abantu bakwazi ukubona ukuthi walukhuluma ulimi lwakhe usobanibani futhi wamuhle ekhuluma lona. Akufanele kube ngathi ukhuluma ulimi lwakho ngoba ungafundile, abafundile bona bakhuluma o because.
Cha, mhlonishwa izilimi lezi ezikhulunywa yithi kufanele kube yizo ezidlondlobaliswa kakhulu ngoba yizona ebezincishwe amathuba okudlondlobala. Izingane zethu ke lezi ezifunde ezikoleni ezixube izinhlanga, kuyingozi enkulu kabi ukuthi zingazazi izilimi zethu ngoba zikhuluma isilungu esikoleni, ekhaya kanye nase toilet. Akukuhle ke mhlonishwa ngoba kufanele isilungu kube wulimi nje lokulekelela ukuthi kuthelwe ukudla kodwa olwethu ulimi lungasali ngemuva.
Ngiyabonga, Somlomo. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Minister, the Department of Arts and Culture should work hand in hand with the Department of Education, to make sure that those languages used in this country are known by the youth, learners and those still growing up. All the provinces should see to it that even if there is English being used, there should also be our indigenous languages, so that wherever we are our children will not be speaking English only.
We should do this to ensure that if we are talking about the pass rate at schools, it is not because the person passed English and Afrikaans. The person must pass even if it is isiZulu or Setswana, because these are languages to be spoken. Therefore, languages used in our homes should also be used in the departments, so that we will be exemplary. It shouldn’t be that you speak your language because you are illiterate; those who are literate are using words like “because”.
However, Minister, our indigenous languages should be the ones that are mostly developed, since they were marginalised. For our children who attend multiracial schools, it is a big danger not to know our languages because they speak English at school, at home and even in the toilets. It is not good, Minister, because English should be a language used to communicate and to get food, but our languages should not be marginalised.
Thank you, Chairperson.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE: Thank you, Madam Speaker, hon Minister and hon members. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the march of over 20 000 women to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956, I’d like to dedicate my speech to all those women, and the children of South Africa who, despite present-day challenges of poverty, disease, unemployment and violence, toil every day to build a better South Africa and a better world.
I’d like to pay tribute to the late Comrade Nomngqengqo Duna, uMamqocwa, who passed away in July 2003. She was my friend, my comrade, and my hero: An inspirational woman who was a repository of knowledge and an embodiment of the philosophy we are promoting today, a philosophy that recognises that every woman has a God-given innate leadership ability.
Although Mamqocwa was not as fortunate as some of us to have received an education beyond primary school level, she was amazingly endowed with intelligence and an analytical mind. She was naturally gifted. She was a role model, a brave woman, a great leader in her own right, who demonstrated that knowledge is not only gained through formal education but through lived and experiential wisdom. An unsung hero: long live the spirit of Mamqocwa! [Applause.]
In his opening statement at the Special Event on the Challenges of Eradicating Poverty for Sustainable Development in 2001, the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, had this to say:
The poor are seldom poor by choice. Very few people in this world enjoy living on hand-outs. Most people know that they are quite capable of earning their living by their own efforts, and are eager to do so. But they must be given a fair chance to compete. That applies to individuals, it applies to companies and it applies to countries.
I agree wholeheartedly with Mr Kofi Annan, and in today’s Budget Vote debate I would like to focus only on those programmes and projects of the Department of Arts and Culture that address the challenges of the second economy through the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa, Asgisa, and the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition, Jipsa. As stated in the Asgisa document, we are convinced that to achieve Asgisa’s goal of halving unemployment and poverty by 2014, we will have to pay particular attention to the concerns of women and the youth.
The first programme, which is very close to my heart, is the Mosadi wa Kono- Kono campaign – “Women of Substance”. It is a programme that aims to unleash the God-given, innate capabilities possessed by all women, regardless of their circumstances. The campaign acknowledges and pays tribute to the incredible leadership role played by ordinary women, especially in the poorest of communities. It strongly advocates the development of women leadership and the creation of a cadreship of role models.
The women involved in this programme play a leading role in their communities, championing development initiatives that are supported by our Investing in Culture Fund. We do not expect women to demonstrate excellence without having invested in the cultivation of that excellence. The Mosadi wa Kono-Kono campaign has already been launched in six provinces, but believe me, the fever has already caught on in all nine provinces. Women and women’s networks have been actively involved in cultural development and skills training programmes.
At this point, I wish to congratulate one Mosadi wa Kono-Kono who has recently received the Order of the Baobab, Mama Grace Masuku. She was recognised for her role in promoting indigenous plants with medicinal value and passing on her incredible knowledge to large groups of equally enthusiastic youth.
Later in the year, during the month of August, which is Women’s Month, we will be hosting an awards ceremony to honour and give due recognition to women who have done outstanding work in their communities, women who have played a significant and courageous role in history, as well as those who have contributed to the development of their communities. The youth will play a critical role in identifying and profiling Mosadi wa Kono-Kono.
The programme Arts, Social Development and the Youth is also working towards arts access to all communities, particularly the marginalised groups, such as children, women, people with disabilities, the inmates in correctional centres and other vulnerable groups. The range of arts services includes art therapy and art making for social and economic development.
Through the support of the Art Therapy Centre, the department is funding the training of 20 community arts counsellors, who will graduate this year. With additional support during the current financial year, 12 more community arts counsellors will have their training upgraded to meet SA Qualification Authority requirements and will graduate this year as well. These graduates are currently doing their internships at community facilities.
In serving marginalised communities, the Department of Arts and Culture hopes also to strengthen the working relationships and partnerships between the Departments of Labour, Health, Education, Correctional Services, Social Development and Trade and Industry, as a shared social cluster mandate. Services through arts access must be acknowledged and advocated at the highest level in order to direct appropriate portions of resources into meaningful development and roll-out nationally.
The other important programme that we hope to launch this month, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Soweto student uprisings, is the National Youth Expressions campaign. This campaign targets young people and will provide educational and skills training opportunities, and viable and sustainable employment opportunities for young people.
It is envisaged that accredited learnerships will be run from the community art centres and other sites of learning situated within the targeted communities, and learners will be expected to complete a nine-month programme that will be assessed on an ongoing basis.
The programme for our correctional facilities is a programme that was introduced in three of the correctional facilities, but we intend expanding that to 36 correctional facilities and we are planning to do that together with the Department of Correctional Services. The programme provides skills training and a creative outlet for inmates, in the process rehabilitating them.
We also have an early childhood development programme for the children who live with their parents within those correctional facilities. We know that society has a vital role to play in the preservation of the family, whether it is child-headed households, single parenting, or any other family structure, and through arts, universal positive human and family values can and should be promoted.
The department has also introduced a Cultural Fluency campaign. The campaign speaks to issues of removing barriers to intercultural competence.
The department has recently been seriously considering the role of culture in human settlements. For us, the overarching challenge is to present solutions that are not only practical, but incorporate a heightened level of social consciousness. This may be derived through the suggested approach of Cultural Planning, which has already taken root in other developing nations such as Botswana and Cuba, which looks at social inclusion, social integration, creative expression, cultural diversity and of course funding.
A presentation has already been made to the social cluster but we hope that we will again work together with the Departments of Housing, Social Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, to look at how this approach can also be adapted in our country.
The Community Arts Centres programme is a four-year-old programme that has grown in status from its early beginnings. It is now a fullyfledged programme. The vision “Towards optimally functioning community arts centres in South Africa” has led to the development of many strategies that the department has implemented.
Today we are proud to say that from the agreement between South Africa and the Flemish government we have come up with a new vision that promotes and positions community arts centres as institutions of development. We understand that critical to the sustainability of community arts centres is effective management and good programmes that address wider community needs in accordance with this new vision. We are continuously working to ensure that the centres become relevant to government priorities.
With regard to investing in culture, the Department of Arts and Culture has already started funding arts, culture and heritage projects that have the potential to grow as small businesses. Projects range from music development to craft training and development, jewellery making, leather works and many other cultural innovations.
A total of R7,5 million has been invested in 15 community arts centres, Comrade Mbombo. However, we must put in more resources and efforts to unlock the creative assets that are in the hands of our poor and disadvantaged people. The department is now aware of what can be achieved through community arts centres that are strategically situated where the less privileged and poor people of our country live.
The current debates on underdevelopment and the second economy, and what can be done to fast-track women and the poor out of the second economy, urgently require us to rethink these arts and culture centres and afford them as important mechanisms to fight both underdevelopment and poverty in our communities.
With this investment, we would like to demonstrate that, given the relevant support and adequate resources, community arts centres can help to narrow the poverty gap and create more jobs in communities where they are located.
In keeping up with the relevance of proper and up-to-date use of information and communication technologies and how these can enhance the projects and outputs in and around our community arts centres, the department has partnered with the University of Pretoria to establish, alongside the community arts centres, women entrepreneurial skills training centres. These centres will provide skills training and capacity-building programmes for women. Amongst other things, women will be trained in computer literacy, entrepreneurship, and business and financial management.
To this end we have already invested R500 000 for a feasibility study, which will be done by the university. This initiative will be piloted in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, Nkosi Holomisa. The department is also working very closely with the Departments of Trade and Industry, and Communications on this one.
Following a conference we attended in Brazil last year, where we discussed the issue of enhancing the creative economy and looking at shaping an international centre on creative industries, the department also hopes that this project will plant the seed of shaping a South African centre on creative industries. The centre’s role is envisaged as serving as a knowledge bank and clearing house for programmes and activities on creative industries. It will also link up with the international centre on creative industries. We will also have an awards ceremony at the end of the year as an incentive for these community arts centres.
Almost 30% of Investing in Culture funding has already been channelled to the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme and the Urban Renewal Programme nodes. This has contributed to the creation of more than 800 jobs. Planned projects for 2006 in music, crafts, design, book publishing, visual arts, films and television, include the formation of the national music body, the establishment of the national representative body for crafters, the launch of the literary heroes campaign, the drafting of the design and visual arts policy, and skills development for youth in the field of TV and film studies. I hope those people up there heard that.
At this point, I wish to point out the challenges women face in the film industry. There are fewer women in the film industry and there are still fewer African women. Many of them occupy non-creative positions as co- ordinators, producers etc. The few women who are directors face great challenges from their male counterparts. They are often seen as and used as tokens. With the greatest respect, they are filmmakers too as much as their male counterparts, and they must be offered the same treatment and opportunities. Is somebody listening up there? This is South Africa, where equality between women and men and between races is entrenched in our Constitution.
So, through the NFVF, we need to encourage women to tell and direct their own stories. And, before I forget, let me once again congratulate the women and men who made it possible for Tsotsi to win the Oscar Award. [Applause.]
President Thabo Mbeki has on numerous occasions laid emphasis on our responsibility to play a role in ensuring the success of SADC, the AU and its programmes, and Nepad. He has also committed this country to continue engaging the challenges focussing on peace and democracy in the region and continent, and to further strengthen the African Union.
As South Africans, we are also informed by the principles and protocols of the AU. The Department of Arts and Culture will be looking into issues pertaining to the relationship between cultural diversity and peace-making efforts on the African continent. In this respect, the department has commissioned the HSRC to look into and develop a framework on the relationship between cultural diversity and peace and security in Africa. Conflict between states in Africa has decreased significantly over the past decade but civil wars and conflicts within states persist in some of these countries.
Cultural diversity, which should demonstrate the richness of a country, is used by some leaders to position themselves in the struggle for political power. Cultural differences are then used to label others as inferior in the same way as the colonisers psychologically and physically enforced the identity of others on the natives. As such, cultural differences can be used to justify not only political dominance but also economic dominance.
Our sense of identity is rooted in our past and where we come from, and includes a heritage springing from the very cradle of civilisation, while on the other hand we are bombarded by the onslaught of globalisation which both threatens the preservation of this cultural heritage as well as challenges the promotion and protection of cultural diversity.
I just want to move on to the project that I think is the most important, before my time runs out. We had the Events Indaba, the first of its kind, which was held in September 2005 at Gallagher Estate, Midrand, to highlight the challenges that confront the technical production industry and to explore the issues of opening up economic opportunities and industry governance. The technical production industry is made up of, amongst others, academics, technicians, engineers, stage designers, production companies, events organisers and managers and corporate bodies.
The indaba created a fertile ground for redress in so far as the make-up and composition of the industry is concerned. International speakers who were invited to the indaba applauded the department and the industry for its initiative and gave landmark pointers on how issues of a common nature could be addressed.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms C-S Botha): Hon Minister, I regret your time has expired.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE: In my five seconds that I have, I just want to thank everybody and the Minister for his support, the officials of the departmental for their support, and my supporter, Melanie Hess, who is the person that I really lean upon in the Ministry. Thank you very much.
Mnu B Z ZULU: Sihlalo, ngiphakama lapha egameni likaKhongolose ukweseka lolu hlahlo lwesabiwomali olwethulwa umhlonishwa uNgqongqoshe lapha kule Ndlu. Lubonakala luzobeka esimweni esingcono uMnyango wezobuCiko namaSiko ukuba ukwazi ukubhekana nezinselelo eziqondene nawo. Siyazi ukuthi kunemizamo emikhulu eyenziwa umnyango ukuba izilimi zonke esizikhulumayo zigcine nazo sezinikezwe isithunzi sokuhlonishwa ezikufaneleyo.
UMnyango wezobuCiko namaSiko kazwelonke uzokwethula umkhankaso omkhulu wokubhala izincwadi zokukhuthaza abantu baseNingizimu Afrika ukuthi bakwazi ukubhala nokufunda. Uzokwenza lokhu ubambisene nabashicileli bezincwadi futhi lomkhankaso uzokwaziswa ngezilimi zonke ezikhona kuleli zwe. Kuyathokozisa futhi ukuzwa ukuthi umnyango kaNgqongqoshe ufuna ukubhekana nenselelo yokuvuselela ukubhala kabusha kwezincwadui ezindala ngezilimi zabomdabu ezahlukeneyo kusukela onyakenikhulu we-19.
Lezi zincwadi sezitholakala kuphela ezinqolobaneni zokugcinwa kwamagugu. Inselelo evelayo lapha ekubhalweni kwezincwadi ezindala kabusha ngeyokuba sibe nemininingwane egciniwe yothisha nolwazi lwabo ekuhumusheni izincwadi ezibhalwe ngesilungu bezisa ezilimini zabomdabu. Lokhu sekuyobavulela amathuba emisebenzi. Izokhumbula le Ndlu ukuthi izolo uqabane Hlengiwe Mgabadeli uphawule kabanzi ngezincwadi ezindala nezingasatholakali ezitolo okungasenasidingo sokuba ngiziphinde lapha. Okukhulu ngazo ukuthi nxa ubuzifunda, ubugcina kukhona isifundo ositholileyo.
Umnyango kuzomele ubhekane nalezi zinselelo ezilandelayo: Abantu bakithi bakhombisa ukungabinawo umndlandla nokuphokophela ukukhuluma nokukhuthaza ukuthuthukiswa izilimi zabo; okwesibili, abashicileli bezincwadi nabo abasazemukeli izincwadi ezibhalwe ngezilimi zabomdabu ngoba kazithengwa kamuva nje ezitolo; okwesithathu, uma uya ezitolo eziningi ezithengisa izincwadi kuleli zwe, awusazitholi emashalofini izincwadi ezibhalwe ngezilimi zabantu; nokuthi kulukhuni kakhulu namhla kumuntu oqala ukubhala incwadi ukuba athole abashicileli ngoba babuka ukuthi unalo yini igama kwezokubhalwa kwezincwadi.
Kuhle sikhumbuzane kule Ndlu ukuthi intsha yakuleli zwe yavuka umbhejazane ngo-1976. Enye yezinto eyayizilwela neyazichitha ukuqonelwa kwezilimi zabomdabu ngezezinye izizwe. Kusanda kuphuma ucwaningo oluthi abantu abaningi balelizwe bakhuluma izilimi zabo zomdabu uma behlezi nemindeni emakhaya, kodwa uma befika emsebenzini baqala ukukhuluma isilungu baze bakhululwe ukubuyela emakhaya ntambama. Ukufunda izincwadi kuyamakha umuntu bese ekwazi ukukhetha kahle indlela angathanda ukuba ayilandele ekuphileni kwakhe, futhi afunde nobuciko obunonophele bokubekwa kolimi lwakhe alukhulumayo, kukhulise nomqondo wakhe.
Sibonakala njengabantu abangenayo intshisekelo yokubhala kanti futhi noma sesibhala amanoveli, imidlalo kanye nezindaba ezimfushane azithengwa ezitolo ngenxa yokuthi zibhalwa ngolimi lwabantu abangenamndlandla wokufunda izincwadi zabo. Kanti nezizwe esiphila nazo zibonakala sengathi azizimisele ukufunda izilimi zethu ngoba azinayo ingxaki yokukhuluma nathi ngolwazi.
Izilimi zethu seziphenduke izintandane ngokwesela abantu abazikhulumayo. Ulimi olungakhulunywayo lungagcina lushabalele lwaphela ebusweni bomhlaba. Ukubhekana nale nselelo yokungabibikho kwezincwadi ezibhalwe ngezilimi zabansundu, kungakuhle umnyango uhlinzekele uxhaso lokukhuthaza abazobhala izincwadi ngezilimi zase-Afrika. UMqulu weNkululeko kaKhongolose uthi … (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Mr B Z ZULU: Chairperson, I stand up on behalf of the ANC to support this Budget Vote that is presented by the hon Minister in this House. It looks like it will improve conditions in the Department of Arts and Culture so that it will be able to overcome the challenges it is facing. We know that there are efforts being made by the department for all the languages we speak to get the dignity they deserve.
The national Department of Arts and Culture will announce a big campaign about writing books to encourage South Africans to learn how to read and write. The department will work together with the publishers and this campaign will be in all official languages. It is with great pleasure that I hear that the department is in the process of reviewing all the old books written in indigenous languages from 1900 onwards.
These books are now only found in archives. The challenge that arises in rewriting old books is one of gathering the preserved details from teachers and utilising their knowledge of translating books from the English language into African languages. This will create job opportunities for them. This House will remember that yesterday Comrade Hlengiwe Mgabadeli commented about old books which are no longer found in bookshops, and there is no need for me even to mention those books here. The importance of these books lies in the lesson that one will get when reading them.
The department has to face the following challenges: Firstly, our people show no enthusiasm for and interest in speaking and encouraging the development of their own languages. Secondly, publishers are no longer accepting books written in our indigenous languages because lately they are no longer bought. Thirdly, when one goes to the bookshops of this country one no longer finds books on the shelves written in our indigenous languages, and today it is difficult for new writers because the publishers want to know if the writer submitting the manuscript has made a name for himself.
We need to remind each other in this House that the youth of this country fought gallantly in 1976. One of the things they fought for and did away with was the disrespect by other nations for the indigenous languages. Recently research has shown that most people speak their indigenous languages when they are at home with their families, but when they reach their workplace they start to speak English till they go back home in the afternoon. Reading books moulds a person and makes him able to choose the way of life he wants to lead, and then that person will learn the art of using the language he speaks to develop his mind.
We are seen as people who do not have enthusiasm and when novels, dramas and short stories are written, they are not bought because they are written in the language of people who do not have an interest in reading their own books. Even the other nations we live with show no interest in learning our languages, because they have no problems when interacting with us.
Our languages are marginalised because they do not have speakers. The language that is not used ends up dying. To face this challenge of not having books written in our African languages, it will be better for the department to provide funding to encourage those who will write books in African languages. The ANC Freedom Charter says …]
… all cultural treasures of mankind shall be open to all by the free exchange of books.
Umtapo wolwazi lwezincwadi usemqoka kakhulu esizweni ukwandisa ulwazi kepha umnyango wakho, mhlonishwa, usabhekene nenkulu inselelo ngokungabibikho kwemitapo yolwazi ezindaweni zabantu emakhaya. Inqolobane yokugcinwa kwezilimi zabomdabu e-Unisa ivule uphiko lokukhuthaza ukubhalwa nokukhulunywa kwezilimi zomdabu e-Afrika. Kunabhala abanjengoSolwazi uMaja Serudu, u-O K Matsepe kanye nabanye abenza lomsebenzi. Siyakuqonda ukuthi ukwakhiwa kwemitapo yolwazi yezincwadi akusiwo umsebenzi womnyango wakho kepha kuwumsebenzi womasipala. Kuyathokoziza-ke kakhulu kodwa ukuzwa ukuthi umnyango wakho ubeke usabelo esingangezigidi ezinhlanu zamaRandi [R5 million] kulo nyaka wezimali ukwenza ucwaningo lokwakhiwa kwemitapo yolwazi yezincwadi ezindaweni zomasipala.
Kanti khona ngaleso sikhathi kuhlinzekwe imali eyisigidigidi esisodwa samaRandi [R1 billion] ezosetshenziswa iminyaka emithathu ukwakha imitapo yolwazi yezincwadi kusukela onyakeni ozayo wezimali kuya phezulu. Ngakho kunikeza ithemba ukuthi umnyango uyayisukumela inselelo yokufinyelelisa ulwazi esizweni lokufundwa kwezincwadi. Lena yindaba engakaze inakwe ngohulumeni bengcindezelo kanye nabezabelo kodwa namhlanje izindawo ezifana namalokishi, izikole nezindawo eziphethwe amakhosi sezizoba nemitapo yezincwadi.
Uhulumeni oholwa uKhongolose uyohlala njalo eyisixazululo sokuthi lapho okukhona khona izinkinga kube khona isixazululo sokuthi siqhubeka kanjani kuleyo nkinga. Bekuyoba kuhle-ke mhlonishwa ukuthi uma umnyango sewenza lolu cwaningo ngokwakhiwa kwemitapo yolwazi ubambisane noMnyango wezeMfundo kazwelonke ukuze mhlawumbe lemitapo iqale ezikoleni. Kuzodingeka futhi ukuba kuqeqeshwe othisha abanolwazi lokuphatha izincwadi ababizwa ngokuthi ama-Librarians.
Okunye okusemqoka esisilele emuva kakhulu kukho ukubhalwa komlando wethu eNingizimu Afrika. Uma singabhali lutho, siyogcina sesibizwa ngezifiki kulelizwe lokhokho bethu ngoba kungekho esiyokushiyela izizukulwane ukuthi singabomnsinsi wokuzimilela kuleli zwe. Ngiyasesekela-ke lesi sabiwomali esisethula lapha. Ngiyabonga. [Kuphele isikhathi.] [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Libraries are very important to the nation to broaden our knowledge, but your department, hon Minister, is still facing a big challenge regarding the shortage of libraries in rural areas. Unisa’s indigenous language archive has established a unit to encourage the use of indigenous languages in Africa. There are professors like Prof Solwazi Maja Serudu, Prof O K Matsepe and others who are doing this job. We understand that the building of the libraries is not your department’s duty, but the duty of the municipalities. It is great to know that your department has put aside an amount of R5 million during this financial year to do research into the building of libraries by municipalities.
At the same time there is the provision of R1 billion that will be utilised for three years to build libraries from next year onwards. It gives hope that the department is addressing the challenge of cascading knowledge and the reading of books down to the nation. The apartheid and homeland governments never addressed this issue, but today places like townships, schools and tribal areas will have libraries.
The ANC-led government will forever find a solution where there is a problem. It would be good, hon Minister, if your department, in conducting the research into the building of libraries, could collaborate with the national Department of Education so that schools could be first to use these libraries. There is also a need for the training of teachers to become librarians. Another important thing we are left with is the writing of our South African history. If we do not write anything, we will end up being called foreigners in this country of our forefathers, because there will be nothing that we left behind to show that we originated from this country. I support this Budget Vote presented here. Thank you. [Time expired.][Applause.]]
Mr H B CUPIDO: Madam Chairperson, hon members, the 22% increase in the budget is really to be welcomed. The ACDP also welcomes the initiatives by the Department of Arts and Culture with regard to the promotion of language awareness among South Africans. Language is one of the most significant components of cultural heritage and identity. It is a means by which people indicate and develop a sense of belonging to a particular culture, while at the same time striving towards a sense of national pride as South Africans.
At the dawn of our democracy in this country, the prevailing political discourse centred on the concept of a melting pot ideal that embraced the idea of a rainbow nation, and promoted a culture of unity within diversity. At the heart of this respect for diversity was a commitment to ensure the survival of all our languages.
The proposed awareness campaign of the National Language Policy Framework will play a major role in bringing to the fore the needs and aspirations of various communities with regard to language issues. I would also like to support those members who cautioned against the overuse of English in all our spheres, and the neglect of the mother-tongue languages in our country.
The ACDP is further encouraged by the initiatives to promote the recognition of sign language in South Africa, and a word of thanks goes to those who are translating in the House itself. The development of hearing- impaired individuals is further hampered by the fact that they are generally excluded from access to information. The recent attempt by SABC television to address the needs of the hearing-impaired in their news and other broadcasts is already setting an excellent example for the mainstreaming of sign language, and increases public awareness of the needs of the hearing-impaired. Thank you. [Time expired.]
Dr P W A MULDER: Geagte Voorsitter, die VF Plus neem kennis van die goeie werk wat hierdie departement onder sy program 3 doen. Program 3 is die een wat gaan oor die bevordering van die elf amptelike tale. Daar is sonder twyfel ’n groter sensitiwiteit in hierdie Parlement maar ook daar buite vir die verskillende tale. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Dr P W A MULDER: Hon Chairperson, the FF Plus takes note of the good work that this department is doing under its programme 3. Programme 3 deals with the promotion of the eleven official languages. There is without a doubt a greater sensitivity in this Parliament, but also outside, for the various languages.]
In that sense I agree with the hon Ndlovu. I see these little black kids out there with cheesecutters on, speaking Oxford English to each other, and they cannot speak to their grandparents in their own language. Really, that worries me.
Die stryd van kleiner tale in Suid-Afrika, soos in die res van die wêreld, is altyd teen die groter tale, soos byvoorbeeld Engels. Baie staatsdepartemente en ander instellings in Suid-Afrika ignoreer steeds die Grondwet se standpunte hieroor. Ek kan nie sien hoe hierdie departement hierdie stryd vir kleiner tale teen ’n groot taal kan wen sonder wetgewing wat krag en tande aan die departement en aan Pansat gaan gee nie. Taalwetgewing sal dit vir almal makliker maak om te weet wat mag en wat mag nie, en ook om die departement en Pansat se hande te sterk. Ek weet nie waarom ons nog steeds wag om dit vir onsself makliker te maak nie.
Program 6 van hierdie departement het as doel om Suid-Afrika se argiewe uit te brei en goed te bestuur. Een van die probleme van alle argiewe is dat bergingspasie te min word. Tans moet argiewe ’n vraelys van die departement voltooi oor hoe hulle die argiewe aanwend. Daar is ’n gerug - ek weet nie of dit waar is nie; ek dink dit is net ‘n gerug - dat die departement op grond van hierdie vraelys van die argiefstukke, veral vanuit die tyd voor 1994, ontslae wil raak.
Ek kan moeilik glo dat enige persoon wat erns met die geskiedenis maak, ongeag van watter kant jy kyk, van enige argiefstuk sal wil ontslae raak nie. Meneer die Minister, is daar so ’n vraelys? Wat is die doel van die vraelys? U antwoord kan hierdie gerugte, dat die regering alles voor 1994 wil vernietig, die nek inslaan.
Ek dink die departement se rekord in terme van hulp, ook aan monumente van alle taalgroepe, bevestig dat dit nie die benadering is om ’n streep deur als te trek nie. Ek het baie krities na die Minister se toespraak geluister en ek moet ongelukkig sê ek het min gevind waarvan ek verskil het. Die VF Plus sal hierdie begrotingspos steun. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[The struggle of minor languages in South Africa, as in the rest of the world, is always against major languages, for example English. Many state departments and other institutions in South Africa still ignore the Constitution’s position with regard to this. I cannot see how this department can win this struggle for the minor languages against a major language without legislation which will give power and authority to the department and PanSALB. Language legislation will make it easier for everybody to know what is allowed and what is n’t, and will also strengthen the hand of the department and PanSALB. I do not know why we are still waiting to make it easier for ourselves.
The objective of programme 6 of this department is to expand the archives of South Africa and to manage them well. One of the problems of all archives is that there is too little storage space. Archives must currently complete a departmental questionnaire as to how they utilise the archives. There is a rumour – I do not know if it is true; I think it is just a rumour – that the department wants to get rid of archived documents, especially those from the period before 1994 by means of this questionnaire. I find it difficult to believe that any person who is serious about history, irrespective from which side you are looking at it, would want to get rid of any archived document. Mr Minister, is there such a questionnaire? What is the purpose of the questionnaire? Your answer can put an end to these rumours that the government wants to destroy everything from before 1994.
I think the record of the department in terms of assistance, also to monuments of all language groups, confirms that this department’s approach is not to draw a line through everything. I listened very critically to the Minister’s speech and must unfortunately say that I found very little with which I disagreed. The FF Plus will support this Budget Vote. [Applause.]]
Ms D M RAMODIBE: Deputy Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, the ANC supports the budget.
During the apartheid era one of the instruments that was used to oppress the people was language. If you could not speak especially Afrikaans during that time, you would not be offered a job. It was therefore compulsory for you to take Afrikaans at school as one of your subjects. This was imposed without any consultation.
Hon Van der Walt, it is not our fault that we keep on referring to apartheid. This is history. When they named the streets and cities, surely they found these roads had names. They changed them to “Paul Kruger”, some of them were changed to “Verwoerd” and other names, without consulting anybody. If you go to Gauteng, you find Pretorius Street, and when you go to Cape Town you find Pretorius Street. These are the very same people who want to be consulted. Fortunately for them, because the ANC is a transparent and democratic government, it will always consult. [Interjections.]
In our election manifesto we pledged ourselves to a vision for 2014 to build a better South Africa during the second decade of freedom. The ANC believes that, working together over the next 10 years, we can build a South Africa where every South African will be able progressively to exercise constitutional rights and enjoy the dignity of freedom.
When South Africa’s first democratically elected governing party came into being in 1994, it restored human dignity, achievement of equality, and the advancement of human rights and freedoms as its values. South Africa was colonised by the Afrikaners and the English, and these two languages were predominant over the other languages. If you go to a publishing company to ask for a book in an indigenous language, you won’t find it in stock. Instead you will be told that it will be ordered.
I can quote a few other African countries that were colonised. Mozambique and Angola were colonised by the Portuguese, and used Portuguese as their official language. In Zimbabwe, English was the official language. Ivory Coast and Nigeria were colonised by France, and therefore French was their spoken language. The DRC was colonised by Belgium and hence they spoke Belgian.
The Freedom Charter, which was adopted at the Congress of the People on 16 June 1955 in Kliptown, states:
All people shall have equal rights to use their own languages and to develop their own folk culture and customs.
We will therefore not impose our language on other people, as they did.
We are dealing with a human tragedy that apartheid exerted on our society. This is not only about bringing back our indigenous languages, but to provide for the recognition, implementation and furtherance of multilingualism in the Republic of South Africa. It is about the development of previously marginalised languages.
The budget is a tool we use to transform a society that was for many years oppressed by the beneficiaries of apartheid, who had the capacity to support resistance to change. The Pan South African Language Board received transfer funding and is responsible for creating a conducive environment for the development, usage and promotion of 11 languages. It is for this reason that we see steady increases in expenditure at an average annual rate of 14,1% from 2002-03 to 2008-09.
Expenditure on the Pan South African Language Board increases faster over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, from R27 million in 2005-06 to R47,1 million in 2008-09, at a rate of 20,4%. The increase is to improve the institution’s head office capacity, and to increase language development and the promotion of multilingualism.
In his state of the nation address the President of the country said that our people are firmly convinced that our country has entered its age of hope. We do hope that PanSALB will continue to improve the institution’s capacity. Section 185 of our Constitution provides for the protection of the rights of cultural, religious and linguistic communities. It is through this Constitution that today we have written languages.
In the year 2005 the National Language Service programme met most of its targets. However, there are delays in finalising and implementing the national language policy, which we hope will receive more attention over the 2006 MTEF.
There was a decrease of 22% in the overall demand for English translation and editing this year, due to the lower demand from the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Science and Technology, and Arts and Culture. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Ms M M MDLALOSE: Madam Chairperson, my dear Ministers, colleagues, it is heartwarming to hear the Ministers talking about progress in our department. It is heartwarming to hear that there is advancement and there is promotion of arts and culture. But as a member of the committee, I have some problems with this very committee.
Firstly, I would say that an important part of Nadeco’s approach is to look for positives in any given situation. Problematic governance arrangements around the department and the portfolio committee make it difficult to find positives on this occasion.
Let me begin with the portfolio committee. The committee has become demoralised and ineffective, especially concerning its oversight role. The frequent changing of chairpersons and the coming and going of members of the committee has left the committee with a poor sense of direction and function.
Nadeco calls for the Chair of Chairs to intervene and help the committee to re-establish itself. Proper oversight over the department must be restored. Then there is the department, which also displays a certain reluctance when it comes to accounting to Parliament.
Siyazimema izinhloko zeminyango, siyakhuluma, siyacela ukuthi kube khona ukusebenzisana. Akucaci ukuthi inkinga iyiphi. Sithola izikhalo njalo ezinhlangothini zombili. Izinhloko zeminyango ezithinta umnyango wezamasiko nobuchwepheshe zibonakalisa ukuba nenkinga. Siyanxusa ke kungqongqoshe ukuthi ake kube khona ukusebenzisana nokubambisana sikwazi ukuthi silingise ngoba akusebenzeki kahle. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[We invite all the heads of departments. We are urging co-operation. It is still not clear as to where the problem lies. We always receive complaints from both parties. The heads of departments which are in the cluster of the Department of Arts and Culture appear to be having a problem. We humbly make a request, hon Minster, that there must be collaboration and co- operation so that we can make some corrections because we cannot work effectively.]
I am not proud to be a member of this committee at the moment. But I do wish for progress and I do have a passion for this committee. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr H P MALULEKA: Hon Minister, Deputy Minister, hon members, and esteemed guests, when the Congress of the People declared in 1955 that the doors of learning and culture shall be opened for all, arts and culture, like other aspects of our lives, was under attack by the apartheid regime. People were not free to express and nurture their artistic prowess in the way that they could best do.
I would like to cite a case in point here, and that is The Blue Notes, which was led by Chris Macgregor, with its members being Mongezi Feza, Louis Moholo, Mbizo Dyani and Dudu Pukwana. These were some of our most outstanding musicians, but because they were a racially mixed band, they were not accepted by the obnoxious apartheid regime.
While the international community revered their music, the rest of us were denied the pleasure of enjoying the beautiful melodies that they created. Sadly, they are amongst those who were not fortunate enough to come back home to a democratic South Africa because, unfortunately, they all died in exile, except Louis Moholo. This speech is dedicated to Chris Macgregor and The Blue Notes.
Many musicians, although they are no longer trapped in the claws of apartheid, continue to be exploited by the music industry and criminals who pirate their work. We want to encourage musicians and other artists to organise themselves and fight this exploitation that leads to some of them, like the legendary Mahlathini, dying as paupers.
Democratic South Africa offers new opportunities, which only informed and organised artists will benefit from. Internationally, strong unions protect musicians, which ensures that artists have a strong safety net. We hope that the industry will take advantage of opportunities provided in the proposed security initiatives of the department, and that there will be co- operation with musicians inside and outside our country.
The festivals that take place in some of our provinces, such as Macufe in the Free State and the International Jazz Festival in Cape Town, provide an opportunity for up-and-coming musicians and seasoned musicians to network with musicians from our continent and the international arena.
These festivals do not only give jobs to our artists but also contribute to cultural tourism. The ANC supports this budget because it seeks to realise our objective of promoting arts and culture for social cohesion.
The work done to help promote the film and video industry has considerably assisted in popularising this industry. It is encouraging when we see that young and emerging practitioners from previously disadvantaged communities, who could not participate meaningfully in this industry, are afforded an opportunity to compete and prove their worth.
South Africa happens to be the single most substantial moviegoing community in the world. This testifies to what has been repeatedly lamented by would- be moviegoers, that they would watch movies if they are told their stories. They said, ``Tell us our stories, and we will go to the movies in droves.’’
One myth that this emerging market has exploded is that for a movie to sell, it has to have an American superstar. This proves that for our proudly South African movies to sell we do not need Halle Berry to play Brenda Fassie, or Denzel Washington to play Madiba. [Interjections.] Not one of those movies, in which these international stars were leading actors, has ever won an award.
We have the success of box office movies like Yesterday, Gums and Noses, Mama Jack, Max and Mona and others, just to cite a few examples. South Africa is popular at many if not most of the film festivals and markets. Everyone wants to sign a co-production with South Africa. America, Europe and the United Kingdom have dominated the silver screen, and audiences now want new and fresh stories, and this is what we have to offer.
However, what is needed is more money to encourage this excitement. The creative industries are identified as one of several sectors of our economy for investments to boost accelerated growth.
According to Acumen, a business and management magazine, creative industries include graphic design, advertising, film and video, music, performing arts, fashion design and product design. New media such as the Internet, cellphones, publishing, radio and television, visual arts, architecture and crafts, poetry and writing, exist symbiotically with some of these areas identified above.
We commend government for seeing these areas as having huge potential. Investment in them will certainly have major multiple effects on the economy and will thus eradicate poverty and create jobs. The magazine further says on this matter that, in London, creative industries are now the second biggest job generators.
Given the depth of talent in our country, all of us in the public and private sector, and in municipalities, must seriously increase our investment in these industries. Film and video as well as music are critical components of our creative industries. To date, the Ministry and the department have given important financial support to these areas.
The listening campaigns have been very helpful in informing the Ministry regarding the challenges facing these industries. We are, however concerned, Minister, about the static fund of the National Film and Video Foundation. Some of the huge film successes last year and also this year are the result of vigorous networking and funding that they gave to the producers.
The fact that they had to stop further requests for film and video is unfortunate. We appeal to Cabinet to heed the calls for additional support. This appeal goes to others in the private sector as well as those who have shown that it can be done. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Mr M T LIKOTSI: Deputy Chairperson, Kim Il Soong writes: “ Truly realistic and revolutionary literature and art show the people the most beautiful and the most noble things of human life.” It is impossible to imagine life without literature and art. The PAC of Azania aspires to a society that has developed fully in all fields of the economy, culture, ideology and morality.
It is a truly popular society where people of a new type, who have intellectual, moral and physical integrity and are developed in a comprehensive way, fully enjoy rich and cultured lives as masters of nature and society. In building this great society, writers and artists play a significant role, holding a very important position, which no one can replace. This is what humanity is all about.
Actors too should explore reality, otherwise they cannot accurately represent new characters in line with how people are changing and developing. The actor is a direct and independent creator of a character. Without the actor it is impossible to create a character in film and, accordingly, to carry out a screen presentation.
The PAC of Azania advocates for a cultural revolution thoroughly, training all the working people to be builders of socialism and to equip them with a profound knowledge and nature and society, and a high level of culture and technology.
The PAC strongly believes in building a true people’s revolutionary culture, which serves the socialist working people. Our people should oppose a cultural infiltration of colonial and capitalist forces, and the tendency to return to the past and to protect the national cultural heritage, taking it over and developing it in keeping with socialist teachings. The PAC supports this Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]
Mr G LEKGETHO: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, members of Parliament, citizens in the gallery and elsewhere, let me, at the outset, inform you that the ANC supports the budget. It gives me great pleasure to stand before you and address you on deeply emotional issues related to heritage. Heritage is usually defined as what we inherit, what we value or what we want to pass on to future generations in building a nonracial, nonsexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa.
Cultural heritage encompasses any cultural form that is building language and arts that we value as a society. Intangible heritage is comprised of those symbols, symbolisms, living heritage, music, dance and narrative forms that are part of our heritage resources. Heritage is a very broad concept, encompassing places. It is an object that has primary significance to a particular group of people.
As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of 16 June 1976, the ANC declares that the Department of Arts and Culture will lead in the transformation of arts and culture and the promotion of a South African identity, drawing on the rich heritage of our country. The ANC will lead the promotion of national symbols as a mechanism for building a new South African identity, particularly by adopting the national anthem of the country as an official version for ANC gatherings.
The ANC will protect its own cultural heritage, including history, as part of a major contribution to the South African national identity, and ensure ways to keep the history alive so that it passes from generation to generation.
Government will expedite the programme to develop heritage sites and historical memory at local level through all forms of remembrance. The government should accelerate programmes to develop and promote all languages in our country, particularly previously disadvantaged languages.
The indigenous knowledge systems of our country and the African continent and the liberation processes must be promoted and protected as part of our transformation process and as an integral part of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.
Let me inform you and the Parliament of an important historical site in Lehurutshe, a sub-region in the North West province. Tswenyane is the ruins of the fallen kingdom of Chief Moiloa. It remains a tourist attraction and heritage site to locals and foreigners alike.
Lotlamoreng Dam in Mafikeng used to be the epitome of a rich cultural heritage in the form of a cultural village established by Credo Mutwa. The Lotlamoreng Dam cultural village had Zulu, Ndebele, Sotho, Swazi, Setswana, Xhosa and Tsonga villages, which taught people about these cultures and languages. In the same village, Mozambican and Zimbabwean craftsmen and women had a flourishing arts and craft-market. We must revive this village. In fact I want to invite the Minister to come and see this art.
The departmental budget should also be used to revive and instil a culture of patriotism through institutions like the Montshiwa Cultural Village, Tswenyane Heritage Site and Lotlamoreng Dam Cultural Village. It is important that we begin to erect statues and monuments of indigenous national traditional leaders like Montshiwa, Moshweshwe, Shaka and Hintsa in government buildings, national roads, and also in entrances and exits of municipalities of these kings and queens.
The national orders, national symbols and our national anthem and coat of arms must instil patriotism, nation-building and reconciliation.
We owe it to our children to cherish, protect, restore and promote our heritage. From today and for years to come, we must not kill birds, burn this monument, destroy or eat our national birds, and destroy flowers, fish and animals.
The archives legislation has been promulgated to manage national institutions. This National Archives of South Africa Act, Act 43 of 1996, amended by the Cultural Laws Amendment Act, Act 36 of 2001, provides for national archives and records services. [Time expired.] Ke a leboga. [Thank you.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms C-S Botha): You know, hon Minister, I think next time we have this debate, you should ask the members of this committee to each give us either a song, a poem or a little dance when they speak here. [Laughter.]
Mr R B BHOOLA: Chairperson, rooting ourselves in an extremely diverse society with a fusion of cultures and traditions and a bouquet of various forms of arts, South Africa may boast of being affluent in this respect.
It is true that creative communities and activities across the globe are increasingly becoming the largest generators of economic activities. A country as affluent in this arena as South Africa needs to seize the opportunities to promote ourselves in the global arena, and thus benefit our economy.
In view of these endeavours and the objectives of the Department of Arts and Culture, the MF welcomes the budget allocations for 2006. Along with our many cultures and traditions, we have the variety of languages spoken in South Africa. We are pleased at the department’s efforts to engage in a nationwide language awareness campaign through the National Language Policy Framework.
We, however, express our concern as to why the department has only managed to employ 39 interpreters out of an intended 80. What has been done to meet the shortfall? We are pleased that the heritage of our nation is being extended to our learners who, at this young age, need to be taught the values of our great South Africa so that preservation and appreciation begin here. The MF is pleased about the department’s Flag in Every School project that it has embarked upon jointly with the Department of Education.
We are, however, concerned about the progress the department is making in respect of the nine provincial heritage resource agencies that it targeted to establish by April 2006. What has been achieved in this regard?
The MF believes that the skills our people deliver through arts and culture may be utilised to benefit our economy by alleviating poverty, creating jobs and boosting our tourism revenue. The idea, however, should also be to ensure proper representation, preservation, and inculcation of all cultures and traditions in South Africa. We are pleased with the efforts of the KwaZulu-Natal department of arts and culture. The MF supports the Budget Vote. [Time expired.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms C-S Botha): I’ll give an extra minute to anybody who gives us a poem in Siswati. I now call the hon Gololo.
Mr C L GOLOLO: Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, colleagues of the department, members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, the ANC supports this Budget Vote.
Allow me to focus my speech on the importance of a library, which is a nation’s treasure house of published materials. This is a centre of excellence, providing access to its valuable resources to society at large. It facilitates the provision of knowledge and information to all those who are literate.
The National Library Act, Act 92 of 1998, provides for the national library to collect, record, preserve and make available to the South African public materials, including national heritage documentation, published in print and other forms.
The Department of Arts and Culture has the mammoth task of promoting the culture of reading and writing in all languages among the youth and elderly citizens in order to deal with the backlog in libraries in our country, particularly in the remote areas. A very good example is Mpumalanga province, where they are currently providing library services through mobile libraries and book boxes where fully established libraries are unavailable.
I want to call upon all public representatives to lead by example and adopt a library in their respective constituencies in order to inculcate the culture of reading in our society. [Applause.] This will not only sharpen their minds, but it will also produce a decent and well-educated people that will eventually develop and contribute to a better life for all. This budget is indeed bringing hope to our people in this age of hope.
The higher education libraries hold the bulk of South Africa’s scientific and scholarly information resources and fulfil more than half of all the interlibrary loan requests. Pressures on higher education libraries include the redistribution of educational resources, rising prices and declining student numbers. These libraries have responded by forming consortia, looking at access and exploring digital resources.
By July 2004 the Department of Education was working on the policy framework for school libraries. This draft document locates itself within the context of the sociopolitical and education transformation process that is driven by the new legislative framework and by the educational paradigm shift to outcomes-based education.
The draft policy argues that educators and learners will only be able to access an OBE curriculum if they have access to learning resources. This has implications for the way school libraries conceptualise, manage and provide resources.
The draft policy recommends different models of school libraries to provide access to resources for learners and draws attention to the relationship between the school library, the curriculum and learning resources. It also supports the view that the school library is a facility ideally suited for providing learners with a wide range of curricula.
Nine bekunene, asimhalalisele hulumende wetfu lowetama ngato tonkhe tindlela kwekutsi tonkhe tikolwa takulelive letfu tibe nawo emalayibrari. Phela, sibokhumbula kwekutsi sive lesite emalayibrari singeke sibe nato tifundziswa letitawuletsa intfutfuko, nebuciko kanye nebucwepheshe. [Tandla.] (Translation of Siswati paragraph follows.)
[Ladies and gentlemen, let us congratulate our government, which has made it imperative for all schools in the country to have libraries. It is important to remember that a nation without libraries cannot produce a well- equipped society to bring about the necessary development in innovations and technology.]
The Department of Arts and Culture is erecting a R165 million building to house the National Library of South Africa in Pretoria. The project will be executed by the Department of Public Works. There will be about 33 000 usable square metres of space for its book collections, reading rooms and other facilities currently scattered over various premises around Pretoria. The building will provide about 1 800 seats for library users, a marked improvement on the 130 seats available now. The site will become part of the Government Boulevard, linking the city centre with the Union Buildings. Its central location will benefit the many users who rely on public transport. Internet access will also be available to all users of the facility.
Regarding the SA Library for the Blind, this library provides a national library information service free of charge, as far as is reasonably possible, to serve blind and print-handicapped readers in South Africa. Blindlib produces documents in special media such as Braille and audio formats.
As a nation that strives to be competent in the global economy and play a pivotal role in the advancement of science and technology, we need libraries for human resource development in all our schools. These libraries should be sources of information for all our people. We need to equip them with the latest technology. Equally, we need to find more information from our elderly citizens by way of storytelling. We must always remember that when an old man dies, a library is burnt down. We must take good care of them while they are alive.
This budget also ensures that our fallen heroes, who laid down their lives for this new democratic dispensation, are brought back from the African diaspora and elsewhere to be laid to rest in peace here and to enjoy the fruits of freedom.
I want to appeal to and warn all those perpetrators of music and film piracy that their acts of sabotage of our artists will be met with the full might of the law. The music and film industry in this country is experiencing a difficult time at the moment. As responsible and law-abiding citizens, we need to join hands and stop buying pirated CDs and DVDs. Millions of rands have been lost already. Enough is enough.
In February 2005 U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, the acclaimed version of the Bizet opera Carmen, set in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha township, won the prestigious Golden Bear award at the 55th Berlin Film Festival in Germany. The South African film Yesterday was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Film category in 2005. The National Film and Video Foundation funded Yesterday.
Hotel Rwanda, a co-production partnership involving South Africa, Italy and the UK, was also nominated for an Oscar. Cecilia Bobak was nominated for an Oscar for set design for the film Phantom of the Opera. Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood, won the Standard Life Audience Award and the Michael Powell Award for the best film at the Edinburgh Film Festival and the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was South Africa’s official submission for the 2006 Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Film. Lastly, the Centre for the Book has been incorporated as a specialist unit in the National Library of South Africa, ensuring greater stability and increasing the capacity of the two institutions to serve, as a single entity, the needs of a culture of reading, and to preserve and make accessible our national documentary heritage.The ANC supports the budget. I thank you. [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms C-S Botha): Hon Kohler-Barnard, how about a few notes from Carmen à la Pauline Malefane? [Interjections.]
Ms D KOHLER-BARNARD: Madam Deputy Chair, how embarrassing it must be to be the Minister of Arts and Culture! A thorough reading of the latest Auditor- General’s report proves that it does no good to send in a dilettante to do a Minister’s work.
The report reveals that you, Minister, allowed R6,6 million to be rolled over. This money could have been supporting performance after performance; training sessions for young artists; the visual arts; displays - the list is endless. You rolled over R6,6 million. And how could you allow unverified allocations of R17,3 million? Where are the minutes? Who should have taken them?
But then why should the distribution of the money so carefully gathered to support the artists of South Africa be high on your agenda? You have been too busy ensuring that your department diverts funds to one of the most odious, racist bodies this country has had forced upon it since the Broederbond. How the architects of apartheid in your midst must be grinning!
Perhaps you have forgotten, Minister, that our Constitution guarantees that all South Africans are equal. Yet here you are, using taxpayers’ money to support the so-called Native Club. Let us be quite clear: the Native Club is nothing more nor less than a racially exclusive group of intellectual lackeys whose aim is to legitimise state policy.
Allow me, Minister, to point out a few home truths to you. The Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture, which I am sadly rarely able to attend because of my other portfolio, is absolutely unanimous in its wish to see the back of your director-general, Prof Itumeleng Mosala. This man has proved to be an arrogant soul who believes that members of Parliament are merely there to ensure he lives the high life at our expense. [Interjections.] I was specifically asked by the ANC members of the committee, who know that I am always on top of things, to point out to this body …
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms C-S Botha): Order!
Ms D KOHLER-BARNARD: Pardon?
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms C-S Botha): Not yourself, but the hon members. I just want the noise levels to go down.
Ms D KOHLER-BARNARD: I was specifically asked by the ANC members of the committee to point out to this body that MPs are not going to take arrogance on the part of paid employees for one more day. Enough is enough. We were told only yesterday that you intend to address the committee two weeks after this budget: so much for democratic debate and budget preparation. None of the proposed legislation has even appeared before the committee. What a disgrace!
As for the artists, how long is it really going to take you to appoint another NAC board? Another year perhaps, or two? Yes, you were forced to fire the last board in December 2004, after the DA pointed out time and again the mound of evidence against its members, but what is the delay now? There is no board, no executive committee, no CEO, no CFO, and a 50% vacancy rate. Meanwhile there is the small matter of that R6 million you failed to give out to the artists - their money, Minister, not yours - which a board might not have allowed to happen. Come July this year we will be watching.
As for the rest of your portfolio, frankly it is a disgrace. Once again the man who, under you, is directly responsible for 25 boards, Prof Mosala, has somehow managed to hang onto his job, this despite the fact that he oversaw the demise of the NAC, suspended perfectly competent and honest people on trumped-up charges, and has suffered the humiliation of having his own staff toyi-toyi outside his office in protest at his lack of action. Everything about this Ministry is moving in a downward spiral.
In the last budget you had five clean reports. This budget shows just three, and five of your units were not even able to pull a year-end report together. The Auditor-General has even been moved to offer you advice on how to run the museums in this country. Their income rate is a disgrace, and to top that, they have incorrect asset descriptions or no register of the description of their assets, or can’t find them at all. Are our country’s paintings adorning private dining rooms around the country? We will never know.
Then again, the museums look positively successful when compared to some of our theatres. Perhaps you could explain to this body how Pacofs came to report a loss of R1,8 million, or the Windybrow Theatre, which this Ministry gave R4,5 million, only managed to generate R3 526. There are no minutes, no declaration of interest, no control policies, no internal audit function, no CFO, no strategic plan, and the payment of directors’ remuneration contradicts the articles of association.
As for the other entities, the bizarrely expensive Freedom Park is, as ever, going nowhere, using only 8% of its budget for its development. Obviously the highly paid staff were too busy spending the R1,1 million in contradiction of the procurement policy. It took a threat from the Unesco inspection team that it would delist Robben Island to force you to get the place cleaned up. The signage is still dismal, but at least the rat problem is under control.
You were enthusiastic for all of ten minutes with your izimbizo around the country - since then, nothing. Well, not for the artists, but I do have more here in my hand: a plan for a gathering to talk some more. You apparently intend to spend R2 500 per night on a room: that’s for you, the same for your director-general and the same for every one of your 40 officials. An amount of R2 500, and the list goes on. You intend to spend R1,8 million, which is half a million more than initially approved. It is billed as a policy review process. Just read the Auditor-General’s report and that should provide more than enough information without another visit to the trough at the expense of South African artists.
I have no doubt that later you will either choose to ignore my input or you will waste some of your final speech here today attacking me. The hon Minister Manuel always does that and it is really quite flattering. Well, it would be if he ever got his facts right. But the artists of South Africa would far rather hear concrete proposals from you, turnaround strategies for the ailing divisions in your care, news of the appointment of a rock- solid and experienced NAC board, and the roll-out of a national development strategy.
Something seems to have slipped your mind, Minister: both arts and culture are here to provide a unifying force within this land, a means to pull the diverse strands of our nation together in a relationship of mutual respect and admiration. Surely the artists of South Africa deserve better and, no, the DA will most certainly not support this travesty of a budget. [Interjections.] [Applause.]
Mr K M KHUMALO: Mudzulatshidulo, Minisita, mirado ya Phalammennde, vhafumakadzi na vhanna, dzikhonani na vhaeni vha thonifheaho … [Chairperson, Ministers, members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, comrades and respected visitors …]
… it is unfortunate to speak after Ms Kohler-Barnard because there is no staccato in her language as she speaks. I guess this is because of her background of having been a presenter for SABC 2. Chairperson, you have said that if I recite a nice poem or sing a song, you will give me one or two additional minutes. I just want to refer to a little …
… liedjie wat mense in die 1940’s en 1950’s gesing het. Toe was die oorlog teen Engelse en Afrikaners. Die liedjie lui: [… song that people sang in the 1940s and 1950s. Then there was a war raging between the English and Afrikaners. The song goes as follows:]
Daar onder by die mielies
By die groen doringboom,
Daar woon my Sarie Marais.
Jy moenie huil nie,
Jy moenie treur nie,
Jare kom en gaan.
Bobbejane trap die wêreld
So haastig en so lastig,
Bobbejane trap die berge
So lastig en so haastig.
Many of you know it. Please give me a hand. [Applause.] Now, this is just a demonstration that the rumour and allegations that the ANC does not like Afrikaans or Afrikaners is not true. All of and us who can sing and dance are artistic here in this House, and all those who can speak any language and have a common identity, values and moral systems are cultural.
The success of arts and culture is not embedded in programmes as espoused by Department of Arts and Culture, but by continuous engagement with important historical facts. Marginalisation of indigenous languages continues unabated, despite criticism from the opposition.
I need to give just a brief background to this issue of Tshwane. Where does this Tshwane come from? In terms of the renaming, it is a pity that the Minister has actually put this matter aside. But just to give you an uncorrupted history about Tshwane, Firstly, Tshwane was the son of Musi, who was a great leader and a son of Mhlanga, whose headquarters were in Mohlakeng in Randfontein.
The seven leaders of those brothers to Musi were Manala, founder of the Mabena tribe, the reigning king Masombuka. There is Mabena over there. [Applause.] There is Masombuka today, and Ndzundza who then had Gengana, and in Limpopo they call him Kekana. Then there is Dhlomu who today is called Dlomo. Then there is Sibasa and Mhwaduba, and Mohaduba, who are called Bahwaduba. In that whole area of the Zion Christian Church, as you go to Limpopo, they are called Bahwaduba. This is where these people come from. One of those sons is Tshwane.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms C-S Botha): Hon member, would you kindly take your seat. Hon member, do you have a point of order?
Mr M B SKOSANA: I just wanted to say to the hon speaker: NguMusi ka Mhlanga mina. [Musi, son of Mhlanga.] [Applause.] [Laughter.]
Mr K M KHUMALO: Thank you very much, Mr Skosana. Quite clearly, there are the seven sons, the great sons of Musi. Then this son called Tshwane, a great warrior, a man for whom that area around Wonderboom is called Tshwane ka Mnyamane. What it means is that it is a place of black people. In those years, in Radio Bantu by then and Radio Setswana, they used to say: Tshwane, tswara jwalo, which meant that they were going for a commercial break. Now, you can’t come today and say Tshwane is a new name. The name has been there and everybody knows that. Now, part of the uncorrupted history is the fact that … [Interjections.]
Jy sal jou kans kry, man! Ek het ’n probleem met hierdie bankrotpolitiek wat mev Van der Walt bedryf. [Tussenwerpsels.] [You will get your turn, man! I have a problem with these bankrupt politics practised by Mrs Van der Walt.] [Interjections.]]
The second issue is what is called Bon Accord is actually called Mabena Accord. And that must be corrected. The third issue is the areas around Moretele and Moretele River, which people call Moretele because the river used to do what in Setswana is called go retela, which means to dry up and not produce the same amount of water as before.
Tshwane is not a new name, Minister. It is an old name of a warrior, a son that came from the kingdom of Musi ka Mhlanga and all those who have actually led the area in times of wars of resistance. This is a very important history. [Applause.]
This history is not free political education, but it is called historical materialism from a Marxist perspective. You need to understand that. To understand the present you need to know the past, that is, where you come from in terms of dialectics. You need to understand where you come from. So, we need to restore the name of Tshwane, hon Minister.
Just to give the background in terms of the restoration of names Chairperson: Firstly, what is today called Pietermaritzburg is Umgungundlovu, Klerksdorp is Matlosane, Potchefstroom is Tlokwe, East London is eMonti, Grahamstown is Rhini and Butterworth is Gcuwa. These are the original names that we must restore and bring back without any debate or discussion or referring to any political leader.
The cultural industries that we are dealing with in terms of the department are the area that gives the economic growth within the department - things like handicrafts, music, publishing, design and visual arts.
Now, in respect of the support of institutions like Sithengi, SA Fashion Week, we need to increase the bilaterals with African countries in Southern Africa. These are important areas that relate to the cultural industries that you are dealing with. We must have indigenous South African crafts and arts in all our foreign missions. What this means is that in embassies and everywhere in our missions, we need to reflect the South African culture. You need to know that you are now entering a South African embassy.
In respect of the programmes that are forthcoming, the Sithengi Film Festival that is coming, the Fashion Week that is in August, the Craft Imbizo and the SA Music Week in September, must all reflect the rich tapestry of South African culture.
In respect of language - because it has also become an important issue for the opposition all of a sudden - the people who are leading the debate in the continent - Ngugi wa Thiongo and Prof Heila Girima from Ethiopia - inform us that we need to centre the margins and bring the languages that had been marginalised into the centre, because in South Africa today you continue to have Afrikaans and English dominating all the municipalities and council meetings with very few reference to indigenous South African languages.
Secondly, in government buildings of the documentation is in Afrikaans or English. Now, we need to have a situation where we also reflect that rich history of the African people in terms of language. Mario Spevach and Jacques Derrida also say that we need to encourage all South Africans, black and white, to use language for economic development and social upliftment.
It is quite sad to inform you that at the last jazz festival here in Cape Town, one of the American guys who came here actually could speak isiZulu and isiXhosa so fluently, but I was disturbed by the fact that some of the African people around here, South Africans, are unable to speak a single paragraph in isiZulu, Sesotho, Setswana or Xitsonga. That is a disgrace and it is actually disturbing. We need to change that.
The speaker before me, Mr Lekgetho, spoke about the fact that we should not eat the national birds and others. I think what is important is that we have five national symbols. Our national animal is the springbok, our national bird is indwe, mamasilanoka, the blue crane, our national flower is the protea – the protea that we use in all our games whenever we play - our national tree is the yellowwood tree.
Dit word geelhout genoem. Ek hoop jy het gehoor. Die geelhoutboom is een van daardie vyf simbole. [It is called yellowwood. I hope you have heard this. The yellowwood tree is one of those five symbols.]
These are the five national symbols. I agree with Mr Lekgetho when he says let us not destroy …
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms C-S Botha): Hon member, I have given you 30 seconds extra as I had promised, but your time has expired.
Mr K M KHUMALO: Let us just make sure that we don’t eat, destroy and burn all the national symbols. [Applause.]
The MINISTER OF ARTS AND CULTURE: Deputy Chairperson, I want to thank all the hon members who participated in today’s debate. I think most of the points were well taken. And, for a change, I will take the sterling advice of the hon Kohler-Barnard and not say anything about her since she says it is a waste of time. I agree it is a waste of time to address anything she has to say. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
There are a couple of points I think we need to respond to which were raised by hon members during the course of the debate. I think there is a need for us to clarify the roles of the various bodies. The Pan South African Language Board – PanSALB - and the National Language Service are two discrete entities. The National Language Service resides in the Department of Arts and Culture. PanSALB, although we fund it, is not a function of the department. It falls outside the department and it reports directly to Parliament whereas the National Language Service reports to us.
So, those are two discrete bodies having different assignments. PanSALB’s task is the promotion of multilingualism and the promotion of our languages as a nation. The National Language Service is what it says it is – it is a service provided to government and society in general. I know that because of the names sounding so similar, it does cause a great deal of confusion amongst members of the public. But, I think hon members should begin to understand those distinctions.
Obviously, I would very strongly support the improvement of our budget because we think that the work that we do is very important and I think we can always use a great deal more.
On the issue of the vulnerability of our artists, yes, I agree that South African artists, especially those in the performing arts, are extremely vulnerable to all sorts of promoters, shysters and others who are out to exploit them. Which is why, as Minister, one has repeatedly encouraged the South African performing artists to form themselves into some sort of a union or organisation through which they can exert their collective strengths to protect one another from exploiters.
One is pleased to see that this advice is being heeded by some of the performing artists who have now constituted themselves into the Creative Workers Union of South Africa, and we say more power to them. We would like to see more of such organisations because it is only by pooling your collective strengths that you could actually defend yourselves against exploiters. You leave yourself vulnerable if you are going to face the promoters on your own on each occasion.
I am also pleased to see that what we are doing in the area of language is appreciated by the members of this august House. Yes, we agree that all our languages should be promoted. One of the difficulties we are facing, especially with respect to the indigenous African languages, is the absence of literature in those languages. And, regrettably, most of our South African publishing houses do not seem to be very alive to that particular challenge.
I want to correct one little misapprehension on the part of the hon Van der Walt, though. On the taaldebat [language debate] at Stellenbosch, I did actually make some comments. She might not have seen them. There was a very extensive interview I did on the issue with Rapport, an Afrikaans language newspaper, in which I expressed my views. She might of course not agree with those views, but that is her right just as it is my right to express them.
My view on the matter is that we should stop speaking about and people should stop referring to Afrikaans as a minority language. It is not a minority language. Afrikaans is probably the third largest language group in this country. And, what is more, it does not seem to make a great deal of sense to me, in the case of a language group that is that large, to always speak of it as being under threat. I cannot see what could possibly threaten such a large language community.
I would also say in that respect that I think that much of the discourse around the threat to Afrikaans that comes from a handful of Afrikaner academics - and interestingly not the Rector of the University of Stellenbosch, who does not feel that way - is occasioned by concerns other than language. I frankly am not convinced by what they are saying. As I said on that occasion, it would make much more sense, to me if people who wanted to see Afrikaans being preserved as an academic language insisted that other universities, which at present use English exclusively also incorporated Afrikaans as a language of teaching. What would be wrong with that, for God’s sake? I mean really what would be wrong with the University of Cape Town incorporating Afrikaans as a language of teaching? What would be wrong with Grahamstown University and Rhodes University incorporating Afrikaans as a language of teaching? Why insist on an exclusive Afrikaans institution somewhere? It does not seem to make sense to me. Anyway, that is my particular view.
Much as one would like to see the Khoi and the San languages also being developed, unfortunately when we negotiated our Constitution we did not include them as official languages. Maybe that is something that needs to be looked at. Maybe that is something that needs to be reviewed. But, as long as that has not been done, there is no obligation on the part of the department to actually do anything about those particular languages. Not that I think they are any less important. My own mother tongue, isiXhosa, was enriched a great deal by the Khoi and the San languages. Even the name itself derives from a Khoi-Khoi word.
Yes, I also agree with the hon members about the importance of libraries – which is why we have set aside R1 billion to try and develop our libraries over the next three years. We are going to invest that money, hopefully wisely, and act in co-operation with the municipalities with respect to that.
The hon Mulder raised the issue of a questionnaire about archival documents. I want to assure him that there is no such questionnaire. Regrettably, he is not here – he apologised that he had to catch an early plane. But, there has never been such a questionnaire drawn up or circulated by the National Archives. So, I would like him to rest assured that this is just one of the numerous urban legends that make South African life very colourful.
With regard to the issue of a database raised by one of the hon members, we do actually have such a database that includes translators of African languages into English and vice versa, but also includes translators from foreign languages into English and vice versa. That database exists and perhaps it should become more generally known.
The problem of the relationship between the portfolio committee and the department is something that we perhaps will have to address. I will speak to our director-general about that. But, I was not aware that there seems to be reluctance on his part to report to government.
I was particularly touched by the remarks of one hon member with respect to The Blue Notes, which left South Africa some 40 years ago to play at the Antibes Jazz Festival. Those were all very good friends of mine and I want to join you in mourning their loss. But, let us not forget the one member of The Blue Notes who came home early and did not bother to stay in London, Nick Moyake, who tends to be forgotten.
There are a number of people that one has to thank. I would like to say a special word of thanks to my Deputy Minister, Ms Ntombazana Botha, who shares the burden of leading this department with me. I also would like to say a special word of thanks to Director-General Prof Itumeleng Mosala, to Deputy Directors-General Mr Victor Julius and Temba Wakashe, and to all the personnel at the Department of Arts and Culture.
Let me also thank the people who work in my Ministry, beginning with Mr Freddy Mashamba, the Chief of Staff and all the others who work under him. Last but not least, I want to thank Prof Kgositsile, my advisor, who has to take the blame for all my mistakes.
Thank you very much, Chairperson. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
The House adjourned at 12:36.