Mec Anroux Marais: Western Cape Cultural Affairs and Sport Budget Speech 2018/19

Honourable SpeakerPremierbrCabinet colleagues and Members of the Provincial ParliamentbrChairperson of the Standing CommitteebrHead of Department and managers of the Department of Cultural Affairs and SportbrOur partners in the sport and cultural sectorsbrMediabrResidents of the Western CapeGood day, goeiedag, molweni nonkeIntroduction Speaker, it is indeed an absolute pleasure and honour to once again present to this House and the greater Western Cape community, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport's budget for the 2018/19 financial year. I will elaborate on how the Department has allocated the appropriated R 760 734 000 to enable a socially inclusive, creative, active and connected Western Cape.

The following presentation embodies our commitment to responding to the needs of the communities we serve. It also highlights the instrumental role the Department fulfils in nation building, in inspiring hope and in the holistic development of the individual through sport and cultural affairs.

Cultural Affairs and Sport: Inspires prosperity and progressSpeaker, we find ourselves in an ever-changing socio-political climate: One characterised by a national nonchalance to the dire straits our people face on a daily basis. A national socio-political environment which has for a long time become accustomed to funding corruption, maladministration and state capture.

Speaker, at the short end of the nonchalant stick, is our children the youth we have all sworn to afford better prospects to. As a result, a new culture of hopelessness and despondence has left our youth uninspired and unmotivated to be better versions of themselves.

Speaker, this is evident in the realities our youth act out on stages through our various drama festivals across the province. Stories of unemployment, teenage pregnancies, substance abuse, absent fathers, gangsterism, abuse and the lack of viable opportunities take centre stage when our youth are afforded the platform to express themselves.

Speaker, a mind-set shift is urgently required to grow as a people and to offer our youth better prospects. It is the duty of this Department and government as a whole to allow our people to critically see their environments differently and to establish their rightful place in taking ownership of their circumstances and communities which inculcates a sense of belonging, pride and will to prosper which in turn then lets our children dream bigger and imagine better futures for themselves.

Speaker, the question that arises: "How do we then deliver on our mandate with less than what we had when we already started with the bare minimum?" The four programmes within the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport speak directly to redressing the damaging effects of hopelessness and social ills as they contribute to positive youth development and negotiate a collective identity: one which inspires prosperity and progress for the province. All four of our programmes co-function holistically to accelerate unity, hope, reconciliation, respect, pride and a celebration of our diversity and simultaneously creates an enabling environment for all who call the Western Cape home.

As I now present the 2018/19 budget of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, I ask all present here today to be mindful of the proactive role you each have to fulfil in assisting us in allowing our children to imagine a better life by enabling a thriving environment in which children can be children again. Let the children play.

Programme 1: AdministrationFor the 2018/19 financial year, Programme 1: Administration is allocated R66 365 000. This allocation allows the department to achieve service excellence through continuous improvement of financial management practices. This appropriation will ensure support to all other programmes and enable them to improve service delivery to all in the Western Cape.

A dedicated R32 363 000 will provide an overall financial management support service to the department including financial management services to the 3 public entities reporting to my office: Western Cape Cultural Commission, Western Cape Language Committee and Heritage Western Cape, all of whom are represented in the gallery today.I take this opportunity to acknowledge the officials of our award winning Department present here today, under the leadership of our Head of Department, Mr Brent Walters.

I thank all of you for the professional spirit in which you impact the residents of the Western Cape through Cultural Affairs and Sport with care, competence, accountability, integrity, innovation and responsiveness. The dedicated support provided by the Ministerial staff, also present in the gallery today, is greatly appreciated and does not go unnoticed.

I trust that together we will continue to promote, develop and transform cultural affairs and sport in the Western Cape.Programme 2: Cultural Affairs Contrary to the popular belief that knowledge is power, I am of the opinion that the power instead lies in the expression of that knowledge and more importantly in it being understood by another.

The 2005 UNESCO Global Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions recognises that culture contributes to development holistically - both socially and economically. The convention affirms that cultural diversity should be celebrated and protected.

By making diversity accessible to all, it increases our range of choice, and helps "nurture human capacities and values". It argues that when diversity is celebrated, it allows for a more complete realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms central to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Speaker, cultural diversity can be protected and promoted only if human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of expression, information and communication, as well as the ability of individuals to choose cultural expressions, are guaranteed. Programme 2: Cultural Affairs is central towards achieving these goals, creating the enabling environment for expression to flourish through arts, culture, museum, heritage and language related services.

For the 2018/19 financial year, Programme 2: Cultural Affairs is allocated R111 917 000. Speaker, this amount may seem significant in Rands but the increasing number of requests from communities and organisations immediately informs us that the demand certainly outweighs the supply.It is no secret that our political landscape is currently shifting and while we are now forced to become innovative with the very little funds available to us, our department continues in its resilient efforts to rebuild a once divided nation through cultural affairs and sport.

We strive to promote, advocate for and preserve cultural affairs and we cannot do so successfully and more importantly, sustainably without the support and partnering with those who ardently drive this very vision, mindful of all who call the Western Cape home.Speaker, the extent of our austerity measures dictates that establishing, maintaining and improving partnerships is vital in achieving the sustainability of our departmentally funded programmes.

In achieving sustainability, we have increased our efforts to encourage collaborations to expand skills and opportunities. We have also reviewed and reconsidered cultural services and programmes offered to the youth so as to make provisions for relatable engagements to assist in navigating through the Western Cape's diverse cultural landscape, fostering understanding, tolerance and mutual respect for differing cultural backgrounds.

Speaker, our long standing partnership with Artscape, represented by its CEO, Marlene Le Roux and the Baxter Theatre, represented by Fahiem Stellenboom in the gallery today, is testament to this very goal. Both theatres have made considerable strides in diversifying and transforming theatre stages so that it integrates and reflects realities that resonate with our youth and communities within the Western Cape.

Productions such as "The Fall", "Aunty Merle" and "Mixability" as specialised in by the Unmute Dance Company who mainstreams artists with disabilities alongside able-bodied artists showcase the current realities our youth finds themselves in today. It inspires a sense of belonging, contributes to the understanding of different perspectives and offers a frame of reference which paves the way for tolerance and acceptance of the beauty in our diversity, which otherwise may be misconstrued and used as a divisive factor which has detrimental results for the social inclusivity we are striving to encourage.

The Annual Zabalaza Festival brings this goal to life as it was incredible to have first-hand experience of the momentous support base offered to our emerging developmental performing artists. The Baxter Theatre Centre was bursting with song, dance and the exuberance of youth at this year's festival.

The awe-inspiring celebration of award winners as well as nominees at the Festival's closing ceremony held on 17 March 2018 induced goose bumps of pride and augmented the urgency in which we need to create an even more enabling environment for our developmental artists to flourish.With the limited funds available to us, we will continue to prioritise the development, preservation and promotion of arts and culture in the Western Cape through the creation of effective and vibrant functioning arts and culture structures, activities and environments.

Speaker, during the past financial year, in excess of R18 000 000 was invested in professional organisations, NGO's, cultural tourism as well as the umbrella bodies of the Minstrels, Christmas Bands and Malay Choirs. We received 227 applications for funding to the value of R103 266 388, a clear indication of the need for support in this sector.

Through partnerships and collaborations, youth were exposed to various environments where the arts are at the forefront of job creation and skills...