Date: 05/12/2005
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government
Title: Jacobs: Western Cape Cultural Affairs and Sport Appropriation Bill 2005/2006
Appropriation budget adjustment speech by Whitey Jacobs, Western Cape MEC for Cultural Affairs and Sport
Mr Speaker
Premier Ebrahim Rasool
Honourable Members
The Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport was allocated a budget of R168 312 000 for the 2005/06 financial year with an increase of only R513 000 which translates to an increase of 0,31 percent from that of the previous year.
The Department, faced with the serious predicament of fulfilling its mandate with no financial resources at its disposal, in August 2005 undertook a rigorous exercise of identifying under-spending within the Department to be able to re-direct the available funds to identified projects.
Through this exercise a total of R7 458 000 savings were identified. These savings were realised mainly due to non-filling of funded posts.
During the period 1 April 2005 to 1 December 2005 the Department had finalised the filling of 52 posts out of 123 and I wish to emphasise that during this five-month period of the moratorium (6 April to 25 August) only 5 appointments were effected. It should be noted that over the same period the Department had 22 terminations.
I want to inform the house that as much as the Department intended filling all vacant positions within this financial year, the moratorium imposed on the Department impacted very negatively on our ability to fill these positions.
I want to make the point that the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport has enormous responsibilities, especially with regards to social capital building that far exceeds our budget allocation and unfortunately it still commands one of the least budget allocations.
I wish to stress that the savings allocated to the identified projects are once-off allocations. The reason these projects were not included in the original budget was due to limited funding. It means therefore that there will be no funding available for these projects in the next financial year and other years.
The following is a break-down of how the Department disbursed the savings.
1) R1,5 million is allocated to the Cape Carnival festival. There was funding available for the Cape Carnival festival for a three-year period only which expired in 2004/05 financial year. In terms of the said three-year agreement signed three years ago between the departments of the Premier, Economic Development and Tourism, the financial responsibility remained with Cultural Affairs and Sport.
However, a request for continued funding of this festival had been tabled to Treasury. Also, concerns were raised with the Premier's office regarding the lack of continued funding for the period 2005/06 and other years. This is a premier event for Cape Town that showcases its unique culture and it must be supported.
2) R1 million is allocated to the Cape Town Jazz Festival. The department had initially budgeted R500 000 for this event and made an additional request to Treasury in line with the Premier's statement that Cape Town must be seen as the jazz capital of Africa.
3) R1 million is allocated to once-off projects as part of our mandate to develop and promote arts and culture in the Western Cape and include:
3.1) R500 000 for a Cultural Impact Conference, which is very important for our business. It will be a platform for international exchange where local and international experts of arts and culture will unpack the impact of culture on economic and social fibre of our communities.
3.2) R100 000 for artwork for the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). The NCOP has requested respective provinces to submit unique provincial artworks that will be exhibited in the revamped foyer of the NCOP.
3.3) R400 000 set aside for the continuation of the memoralisation projects, erecting monuments for the identified fallen heroes and heroines of our struggle for liberation.
4) R350 000 allocated to the Beach Summer Festival. The Beach Summer programme is important to keep children and learners occupied during the festive season. The Directorate of Sport and Recreation teaches children to swim and organises sport and recreation programmes at targeted areas like Manenberg, Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain.
5) R150 000 is allocated to the inaugural Tinto u/15 Soccer Tournament, one of the first initiatives of the Department to directly invest in the development of football to enhance 2010 opportunities and beyond, for young hopefuls of our province. The Tinto u/15 Soccer Tournament as part of the Week of Reflections, will acknowledge the role that the late Mr Christmas Tinto has played in football development in Cape Town.
I am also happy to announce that the four local professional teams have agreed to select a minimum of two players each and take them into their respective development programmes after the tournament. We are going to monitor the development of these young players.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank Mr Farouk Abrahams, who has willingly offered to identify and train goalkeepers in his Goalkeeper Academy. At the same time I want to extend an invitation to the house to attend the launch of the Tinto Soccer to be held at Athlone stadium tomorrow at 18:00. I wish to acknowledge the kind gesture of Ambro, for sponsoring two sets of jerseys for this tournament.
The following amounts have also had an impact on decreasing our baseline allocation.
An amount of R2 million was transferred to Vote 10: Transport and Public Works for the upgrading of the Kuilsriver College of Education for the establishment of the provincial sport school.
The establishment of a sport school is part of the medium to long-term vision offering a range of benefits in the whole agenda of accelerating and producing high-performance athletes in the Western Cape. Through the sport school, this province will be in better position to produce more athletes with potential to represent the province and country.
Mr Speaker, allow me to share the following amounts that have had an impact on increasing our baseline allocation.
1) R35 000 surplus revenue collected in 2004/05 which has been allocated for the purchase of library materials for use in community public libraries.
2) R2 478 000 from Tourism Hospitality Training Authority (THETA) in respect to the learnership agreement entered into for personnel employed under the School Sport component to implement the Sport Stepping Stones (SSS ) project.
Mr Speaker, as mentioned previously, some of the projects that have benefited from the personnel savings are once-off, however we are concerned about the lack of funding especially to some programmes that speak to the heart of our mandate as the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport.
The new municipal boundaries have also brought additional responsibilities to our Department. In line with these new boundaries we have to ensure that we deliver our mandate of developing and promoting arts, culture and sport in a sustainable manner by adequately staffing all six regions of the province.
Mr Speaker, today is also International Volunteers Day, and as you might know that the work of the department in both the fields of sport and culture depends heavily on the contribution that hundreds of volunteers make in our province. These volunteers are found in different sports clubs and performing arts and cultural groups in urban and rural areas. They contribute to the development of their respective fields of interest out of love and without any form of monetary gain and sometimes in very difficult and trying circumstances. I want to thank them all for their continued commitment and contribution and say to all of them that without you all, our work to build a non-racial, non-sexist, prosperous and united South Africa would not have been successful. Your work is sincerely appreciated and valued.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry for Cultural Affairs, Sport and Recreation, Western Cape Provincial Government
5 December 2005
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government
Title: Jacobs: Western Cape Cultural Affairs and Sport Appropriation Bill 2005/2006
Appropriation budget adjustment speech by Whitey Jacobs, Western Cape MEC for Cultural Affairs and Sport
Mr Speaker
Premier Ebrahim Rasool
Honourable Members
The Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport was allocated a budget of R168 312 000 for the 2005/06 financial year with an increase of only R513 000 which translates to an increase of 0,31 percent from that of the previous year.
The Department, faced with the serious predicament of fulfilling its mandate with no financial resources at its disposal, in August 2005 undertook a rigorous exercise of identifying under-spending within the Department to be able to re-direct the available funds to identified projects.
Through this exercise a total of R7 458 000 savings were identified. These savings were realised mainly due to non-filling of funded posts.
During the period 1 April 2005 to 1 December 2005 the Department had finalised the filling of 52 posts out of 123 and I wish to emphasise that during this five-month period of the moratorium (6 April to 25 August) only 5 appointments were effected. It should be noted that over the same period the Department had 22 terminations.
I want to inform the house that as much as the Department intended filling all vacant positions within this financial year, the moratorium imposed on the Department impacted very negatively on our ability to fill these positions.
I want to make the point that the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport has enormous responsibilities, especially with regards to social capital building that far exceeds our budget allocation and unfortunately it still commands one of the least budget allocations.
I wish to stress that the savings allocated to the identified projects are once-off allocations. The reason these projects were not included in the original budget was due to limited funding. It means therefore that there will be no funding available for these projects in the next financial year and other years.
The following is a break-down of how the Department disbursed the savings.
1) R1,5 million is allocated to the Cape Carnival festival. There was funding available for the Cape Carnival festival for a three-year period only which expired in 2004/05 financial year. In terms of the said three-year agreement signed three years ago between the departments of the Premier, Economic Development and Tourism, the financial responsibility remained with Cultural Affairs and Sport.
However, a request for continued funding of this festival had been tabled to Treasury. Also, concerns were raised with the Premier's office regarding the lack of continued funding for the period 2005/06 and other years. This is a premier event for Cape Town that showcases its unique culture and it must be supported.
2) R1 million is allocated to the Cape Town Jazz Festival. The department had initially budgeted R500 000 for this event and made an additional request to Treasury in line with the Premier's statement that Cape Town must be seen as the jazz capital of Africa.
3) R1 million is allocated to once-off projects as part of our mandate to develop and promote arts and culture in the Western Cape and include:
3.1) R500 000 for a Cultural Impact Conference, which is very important for our business. It will be a platform for international exchange where local and international experts of arts and culture will unpack the impact of culture on economic and social fibre of our communities.
3.2) R100 000 for artwork for the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). The NCOP has requested respective provinces to submit unique provincial artworks that will be exhibited in the revamped foyer of the NCOP.
3.3) R400 000 set aside for the continuation of the memoralisation projects, erecting monuments for the identified fallen heroes and heroines of our struggle for liberation.
4) R350 000 allocated to the Beach Summer Festival. The Beach Summer programme is important to keep children and learners occupied during the festive season. The Directorate of Sport and Recreation teaches children to swim and organises sport and recreation programmes at targeted areas like Manenberg, Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain.
5) R150 000 is allocated to the inaugural Tinto u/15 Soccer Tournament, one of the first initiatives of the Department to directly invest in the development of football to enhance 2010 opportunities and beyond, for young hopefuls of our province. The Tinto u/15 Soccer Tournament as part of the Week of Reflections, will acknowledge the role that the late Mr Christmas Tinto has played in football development in Cape Town.
I am also happy to announce that the four local professional teams have agreed to select a minimum of two players each and take them into their respective development programmes after the tournament. We are going to monitor the development of these young players.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank Mr Farouk Abrahams, who has willingly offered to identify and train goalkeepers in his Goalkeeper Academy. At the same time I want to extend an invitation to the house to attend the launch of the Tinto Soccer to be held at Athlone stadium tomorrow at 18:00. I wish to acknowledge the kind gesture of Ambro, for sponsoring two sets of jerseys for this tournament.
The following amounts have also had an impact on decreasing our baseline allocation.
An amount of R2 million was transferred to Vote 10: Transport and Public Works for the upgrading of the Kuilsriver College of Education for the establishment of the provincial sport school.
The establishment of a sport school is part of the medium to long-term vision offering a range of benefits in the whole agenda of accelerating and producing high-performance athletes in the Western Cape. Through the sport school, this province will be in better position to produce more athletes with potential to represent the province and country.
Mr Speaker, allow me to share the following amounts that have had an impact on increasing our baseline allocation.
1) R35 000 surplus revenue collected in 2004/05 which has been allocated for the purchase of library materials for use in community public libraries.
2) R2 478 000 from Tourism Hospitality Training Authority (THETA) in respect to the learnership agreement entered into for personnel employed under the School Sport component to implement the Sport Stepping Stones (SSS ) project.
Mr Speaker, as mentioned previously, some of the projects that have benefited from the personnel savings are once-off, however we are concerned about the lack of funding especially to some programmes that speak to the heart of our mandate as the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport.
The new municipal boundaries have also brought additional responsibilities to our Department. In line with these new boundaries we have to ensure that we deliver our mandate of developing and promoting arts, culture and sport in a sustainable manner by adequately staffing all six regions of the province.
Mr Speaker, today is also International Volunteers Day, and as you might know that the work of the department in both the fields of sport and culture depends heavily on the contribution that hundreds of volunteers make in our province. These volunteers are found in different sports clubs and performing arts and cultural groups in urban and rural areas. They contribute to the development of their respective fields of interest out of love and without any form of monetary gain and sometimes in very difficult and trying circumstances. I want to thank them all for their continued commitment and contribution and say to all of them that without you all, our work to build a non-racial, non-sexist, prosperous and united South Africa would not have been successful. Your work is sincerely appreciated and valued.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry for Cultural Affairs, Sport and Recreation, Western Cape Provincial Government
5 December 2005
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