Date: 01/08/2006
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Creecy: Pale Ya Rona Carnival launch


Speech by Gauteng MEC for Sport , Arts, Culture and Recreation Barbara Creecy at the launch of the 2006 Pale Ya Rona Carnival

Good morning, thank you for joining us for the launch of the Pale Ya Rona Carnival. This year's launch is particularly important as the carnival is the flagship programme of the Creative Industries Strategy which the department introduced earlier this year.

Carnival is important because it is a perfect tool to implement the Creative Industries Strategy as it is almost a microcosm of the creative industries. From the beginning, the idea right through to the production to the delivery, to audience reception the department has been able to make a significant contribution. Three million rand has been invested in the programme which will result in a street parade on the 9th of September in Johannesburg. The Carnival will depart from the National School of the Arts in Braamfontein and finish off in Newtown at the Cultural Precinct.

The Creative Industries Strategy was written in recognition of the fact that the creative sector contributes significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the province. It acknowledges that the industry is like any other. It is made up of business and organisations active in the sector, the people that make cultural products and services and the places in which culture is created, and consumed. In other words its components are the creative sectors, clusters, the creative workforce and the creative communities.

It has a value chain which at its beginnings has an idea, it goes through production, distribution delivery and finally with audience reception. Understanding the sector in these terms does not undermine the importance of the social function the arts play, in fact the purpose of the strategy is to maximise their contribution to the economy, urban regeneration and community development.

Gauteng is ideally positioned to grow the creative industries as it has the most well-developed creative economy in the country and it has the largest number of cultural enterprises in South Africa. Research conducted by CreateSA indicated that over 40% of all the creative enterprises are found in the province. Johannesburg has the highest concentration of companies in the many of the sectors of the creative industries adding to Gauteng's competitive advantage.

What is important to note is that the strategy is carefully contextualised within the broader growth and development strategy of the province. The creative economy presents significant opportunities to contribute to the areas identified with the provincial growth and development strategy. For instance underlying the Growth and Development Summit (GDS) is the imperative of accelerating labour absorption. The creative industries while largely small and micro enterprises collectively create significant employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. They have large labour absorption potential and contribute to employment in related sectors such as hospitality and tourism.

The Gauteng Carnival parade represents months of very hard work that has taken place across the province. Skills training, dance, music and drumming sessions, welding and design programmes, marshals training, paper mach