Date: 04/04/2003
Source: Ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology
Title: Ngubane: Arts, Culture, Science & Technology Dept Budget Vote 2003/2004
ADDRESS BY DR NGUBANE, MINISTER OF ARTS, CULTURE, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, BUDGET VOTE 2003 - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, National Assembly, Parliament, Cape Town, 4 April 2003
The President
Madame Speaker
Ministers
Honourable Members
Members of the Diplomatic Community
Director-General
Members of the media
Fellow South Africans
Ladies and Gentlemen
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PORTFOLIO
I would like to congratulate Minister Brigitte Mabandla on her appointment as Minister of Housing and thank her for the contributions she has made in the domain of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology. It is a pleasure also to congratulate the New Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Ms Buyelwa Sonjica, on her appointment.
Science and Technology is strengthening and deepening its contribution to our society and to our continent. Resource-poor farmers are receiving better support through the targeted programmes of the Agricultural Research Council. The Poverty Alleviation Programmes of the Department of Science and Technology have created permanent, sustainable jobs through the transfer of paper-making technologies and the development of bee keeping and honey making in rural communities. The CSIR, working with the Automotive Manufacturing Sector, has strengthened this industry with skills programmes, research outcomes and joint efforts that improve the quality and reduce the cost of manufacture of cars produced in South Africa. The Council for Geosciences has been transferring skills and capacities for Geological Mapping to our counterparts in Mozambique in an integrated programme supported by the World Bank. The Human Sciences Research Council has produced the first comprehensive report detailing the disease profile of HIV/AIDS and its social impact in our society. This careful piece of work was given signal support by the former president, Mr Nelson Mandela.
Madam Speaker, these are snapshots of the huge contributions made by our scientists and researchers in bringing new knowledge and its benefits to our society in practical ways. I could also talk about the massive leadership shown by Sasol in significantly increasing its research and development over the past number of years, and could point to an increasing number of small firms that receive their technology and develop further through the Godisa Incubator Programme and the Tshumisano Technology Stations Programme.
These developments take place in the context of the National Research and Development Strategy (R&D), which were accepted by Cabinet last year and have led to a welcome increase in real terms of Government Science and Technology spending for the first time in a number of years. I am pleased to be able to inform you that it was decided at the Cabinet Lekgotla that we would produce an important complementary strategy on technology transfer. Work on this strategy has been initiated and we intend to produce this strategy in good time to secure the necessary support and resources for its implementation in the next fiscal cycle.
I would like to turn to the issue of our legislative programme. During the course of this year, I hope to present to Parliament legislation on the protection and effective utilisation of indigenous knowledge.
This legislation results from a careful, wide-ranging policy development process, which has been strongly supported since its inception by the Portfolio Committee on Arts, Culture, Science and Technology.
We are in the early stages of developing legislation that will harmonise the governance of Research Councils and Agencies, and Government Science and Technology institutions. The requirement for this legislation, identified in the National R&D Strategy, results from the lack of a single coherent picture of government spending on science and technology, and a need to ensure that institutions conform to a common set of sound research and innovation management practices. Legislation will be presented to Parliament outlining a common enabling framework for research and innovation utilising public finances, and will, among other matters, deal with the vexing question of intellectual property rights that arise from such national investments.
In the very short term, we hope to complete the process of adoption of the South African Council for Natural and Applied Scientific Professions Bill by this Parliament. It has already been the subject of detailed consideration by the Portfolio Committee.
I am very pleased to be able to report to you that the increases in the science vote are to be applied to a number of important strategic areas identified in the National R&D Strategy. Notwithstanding the ongoing positive outcomes from our National System of Innovation, there are many challenges to be addressed. There is an urgent need for enhanced innovation that will lead to new products and services being available to our people, and for increased economic growth mediated through our firms and industries.
The main focus of our spending this year will be the first full year of investment in the Biotechnology Regional Innovation Centres and the National Bioinformatics Network. The Tshumisano Technology Stations Programme and the Godisa Incubator Programme will have substantial increases in resources to strengthen their ability to create and serve small, medium and micro enterprises.
We have also dedicated resources to improved use of technology and innovation in poverty alleviation. This programme will grow with time and the focus in the first year is the identification of new and effective techniques of mobilising our resources in this important arena.
The National Advisory Council on Innovation has advised me that it has completed the process of developing the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Strategy that I requested them to initiate in June last year. This important strategy, which will be taken to Cabinet soon, targets a number of areas related to the Integrated Manufacturing Strategy (of the Department of Trade and Industry), where technology and innovation can make a substantial difference to the quality and productivity of our industry. In addition, work is being undertaken to develop technology and innovation strategies for our resource-based industries.
In all these cases, a combination of reprioritisation and requests for new and additional resources will be used to deliver real value and benefits to our people and under-gird the positive development of our economy.
Science and Technology has made a positive contribution in the development of a vaccine for HIV/AIDS. The South African Aids Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI) was recently reviewed by the Department of Science and Technology and there is every indication that the first phases of the clinical trials will be undertaken during 2003. I would like to applaud all of the South African and international institutions that have joined us in financing this initiative.
Astronomy is good business for South Africa. I have reported in the past on the construction of the South African Large Telescope (SALT). SALT continues to make good progress and we are anticipating that it will reach "first light" during 2004. I hope that it will represent part of the celebration of 10 years of democracy and freedom in South Africa.
More recently, Cabinet gave its support to a South African expression of interest to be the site for the next generation radio telescope, known as the Square Kilometre Array or SKA for short. This radio telescope will be built at a cost of 1 billion dollars, and the nation that hosts this facility is expected to derive a direct economic benefit of about half of this investment. It would be a major development, which would be completed by 2015 and would operate at least until 2050.
It is true that Science and Technology seems sometimes only to take the long view, or in the case of Astronomy, a distant view, but close examination of our system shows that there are considerable challenges in the very short term in increasing the number of scientists, engineers and technologists in South Africa. This includes school-level interventions, strengthening tertiary education and the provision of meaningful careers for the young people who come through the system. Government plays a critical role in this regard and we applaud the initiatives of the Department of Labour and the Department of Education in strengthening our higher education and further education and training domains.
My Department will initiate a "Centres of Excellence Programme" in partnership with the National Research Foundation, which is intended to strengthen post-graduate production in key areas of relevance and importance to our nation. Centres of Excellence concentrate on groups of academics and beneficiaries rather than on individual projects. This has the positive benefit of making a larger contribution over a shorter time period, as well as making the work more interesting and challenging for post-graduate students.
In addition to this, we will be strengthening our investment in key science areas of enduring value to South Africa, including Astronomy, as indicated above, Palaeontology, the Antarctic and the Islands Research Programmes, Indigenous Knowledge and key bio-resources.
There have been a number of positive developments in international relations: I wish to single out our ongoing interaction with the European Union and the ACP countries to secure new financing for science and technology programmes within. We will report the full outcome of this process during the course of the year, but the very practical and targeted nature of science and technology international relations is critical in these uncertain times.
Knowledge defeats poverty. Scientists are involved in the business of developing knowledge. We will continue to build and develop our National System of Innovation to serve the interests of all our people. We invite our colleagues across Government to use knowledge and innovation more widely and more creatively to reduce the costs of delivering services, while at the same time improving the quality of the services, their reach and their impact. We should not only rely on tried and tested solutions, but also continually strive to acknowledge innovation in everything we do.
We will continue to report to you the positive developments arising from Science and Technology as much as we present the continuing challenge to strategically increase our investment in this domain, so that we can employ the next generation of inventors and innovators who will bring new benefits and quality of life to our people.
ARTS AND CULTURE PORTFOLIO
A few weeks ago, the Portfolio Committee on Arts, Culture, Science and Technology invited South Africans to make submissions on the Department of Arts and Culture's Budget. As a people centred government, it was a positive sign to note with appreciation our stakeholders' willingness to partner the department to ensure that resources are a strategic tool to create a better life for all. And with changing demands within the local and global context, the new Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) was formed in August last year.
As we approach the end of the first decade of democracy, we must find means to cement the bonds of our nation. I foresee that culture will be at the centre of developments to celebrate a democracy and what it has made possible in terms of reconstruction and development and nation building and reconciliation.
Madam speaker, the tenth anniversary of our democracy will be next year. The build up will begin this year and celebrations will reach their peak in April 2004, with various local activities and functions at most South African embassies. We have dedicated significant fiscal resources to celebrating this, the major turning point in the history of our country: for projects or programmes on celebrating Ten Years of Democracy, the Department of Arts and Culture has been allocated an amount of R80 million, spread over two financial years.
This is one of the significant increases in baseline allocations in the 2003 Budget, for which our total allocation is R926, 527 million. Others are an amount of R60 million in 2003/04 and R80 million in 2004/05 for the infrastructure needs of our National Library and National Archives and increased allocations to institutions and the Pan South African Language Board (R31, 5 million in 2003/04 and R46, 5 million in 2004/05).
Our institutions are the bedrock of arts delivery and key partners in unlocking creativity and in implementing arts policy. In the next three-year financial cycle, the Department is dedicating considerable resources to the sector. For the 2003/04 financial years the allocation is R30 million; for the 2004/05 financial year the allocation is R45 million. Finally, in the 2005/06 financial years we forecast the budget for institutions at R60million. Out of this purse the National Heritage Council is to be established within the current financial year. One of its objectives is to disburse funding to heritage institutions.
Our playhouses - previously bloated arts councils- continue to transform and we are committed to ensuring their maintenance and the stability of their functioning. Arts institutions assist in creating a sustainable performing arts industry based on access, excellence, diversity and redress. We have earmarked a total of R14m for capital works to playhouses this year. The total budget for Performing Arts Institutions is approximately R80 million. In addition to funding Playhouses -the State Theatre, Artscape, PACOFS and the Playhouse Company-there are increased allocations to the Market and Windybrow Theatres.
Through ring-fenced funds located at the NAC, the department has been creating new arts companies, which are effectively SMME's funded over a three-year period. The advantages of this are manifold, as these smaller entities create stability within the arts and allow creative freedom and the pursuit excellence. This will go a long way to creating role models and ensuring a cadre of industrious performing artists.
While debates on matters concerning our Playhouses have been strong, so too have concerns over the functioning of our orchestras. As a means to meet the needs of a rapidly changing funding environment, DAC developed a policy requiring partnership between local, provincial and national government to support these entities.
In 2002 the first agreement was reached in KwaZulu-Natal and the orchestra received R3 million from DACST. This year, we extend the partnerships to the Western Cape and Gauteng, with agreements to ensure that a total of R9 million is allocated from DAC alone. Orchestras will be developing training programmes to ensure greater representation and participation by young black South Africans.
The budget of the NAC has dramatically increased over the last two years to R42 million, which is committed to supporting performing arts and dance companies at professional level and to developmental, community based projects. These allocations from DAC are used to optimise the value of international relations. Through proposed and signed cultural agreements, most notably with the Norwegian, Flemish and Swedish governments, we will be able to commit significant resources to the development of music and other art forms. For example R25million has been leveraged from the Flanders for five projects looking into community arts centres, arts education and training, cultural management craft and cultural policy to be funded for a period of three years.
We are also in the process of establishing the Swedish/SA Institutional Development Fund with that government, where they will contribute R25 million per year for the next five to ten years. DAC will match these funds by allocating R5million per year. The Fund, to be launched in 2004, will also look at disability issues. Lastly, Norway has made available a sum of R10 million per year until 2005 for the Mmino project, which is located with the National Arts Council. The funding pie for arts and culture has grown as more resources are becoming available. The Ministry has dedicated three officials to the Lottery Board and through them we ensure that we provide access to support the full range of the arts.
Since the turn of the millennium, we have seen rapid growth of our budget at an average annual rate of 18,3% for the arts and culture sector. I believe that this reflects well on the seriousness with which we take our work and on our accelerated rate of delivery. Growth is projected to increase at an annual average 20% over the medium term.
The department geared up for efficient delivery; the added responsibilities and new programmes and projects have necessitated a new structure and organogram. Three new Branches have been formed. They are: Arts, Culture and Language in Society; Cultural Development and International Relations; and Heritage, National Archives and Library Services. In keeping with our commitment to building a strong institutional capacity, our most rapid growth areas are characterised by transfers of a capital nature. R764, 035 million, 83% of the 2003 Budget, will be devoted to transfer payments to support arts, culture and heritage institutions.
The DAC has responsibility for twenty-seven public entities including museums, art galleries, the national Zoological Gardens, the National Archives and the six playhouses mentioned above. A strong and economically healthy nation places emphasis on the construction and maintenance of its facilities. The Department's Capital Works Budget has grown by more than 100%, from R81, 501million in 2002/2003 to R168, 050million in 2003/2004. Examples of how this money is spent, investments that were made in DAC's institutions this year included R7, 8million to the Qunu component of the Nelson Mandela Museum; R6, 3million to the Voortrekker Museum; R5, 5m to the Northern Flagship Institution; R3, 1m to the National Museum and R17million the Robben Island Museum, R4, 5million of which went to the long term project of repairing the breakwater wall on the Island.
Madam Speaker, as we record and make accessible our history it is also important to create conditions to promoting accessible, people centred delivery and information on government and its resources to all of our people. One of the important efforts in which we will be engaged in the coming years is the popularisation of the National Language Policy Framework (NLPF), launched in late March. This important strategy will contribute significantly to service delivery from government and increasing access to the work of government for all. The NLPF promotes the equitable use of our official languages and ensures redress for the previously marginalised indigenous languages.
While a national vision for our people and the use of our languages has been forged, provincial governments should model their policies for promoting multilingualism within the National Language Policy Framework, taking into account regional circumstances and the needs and preferences of local communities.
Building on my budget address last year, I am able to announce new projects developed to enhance communication and information flow, particularly across the language barrier. The Videophone Facility for Sign Language Interpreting was launched in August as part of the TISSA Project. Another TISSA pilot project is currently operational at some forty police stations across the country. In addition we showcased TISSA at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, enabling delegates access 24 hours, seven-days a week to twenty.
I thank you.
For more information contact: Andrew Aphane Ministerial Spokesperson at 082 387 5615, Mack Lewele, Director: Communication at 082 450 5076
Issued by Ministry of Arts, Culture
4 April 2003
Source: Ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology
Title: Ngubane: Arts, Culture, Science & Technology Dept Budget Vote 2003/2004
ADDRESS BY DR NGUBANE, MINISTER OF ARTS, CULTURE, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, BUDGET VOTE 2003 - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, National Assembly, Parliament, Cape Town, 4 April 2003
The President
Madame Speaker
Ministers
Honourable Members
Members of the Diplomatic Community
Director-General
Members of the media
Fellow South Africans
Ladies and Gentlemen
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PORTFOLIO
I would like to congratulate Minister Brigitte Mabandla on her appointment as Minister of Housing and thank her for the contributions she has made in the domain of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology. It is a pleasure also to congratulate the New Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Ms Buyelwa Sonjica, on her appointment.
Science and Technology is strengthening and deepening its contribution to our society and to our continent. Resource-poor farmers are receiving better support through the targeted programmes of the Agricultural Research Council. The Poverty Alleviation Programmes of the Department of Science and Technology have created permanent, sustainable jobs through the transfer of paper-making technologies and the development of bee keeping and honey making in rural communities. The CSIR, working with the Automotive Manufacturing Sector, has strengthened this industry with skills programmes, research outcomes and joint efforts that improve the quality and reduce the cost of manufacture of cars produced in South Africa. The Council for Geosciences has been transferring skills and capacities for Geological Mapping to our counterparts in Mozambique in an integrated programme supported by the World Bank. The Human Sciences Research Council has produced the first comprehensive report detailing the disease profile of HIV/AIDS and its social impact in our society. This careful piece of work was given signal support by the former president, Mr Nelson Mandela.
Madam Speaker, these are snapshots of the huge contributions made by our scientists and researchers in bringing new knowledge and its benefits to our society in practical ways. I could also talk about the massive leadership shown by Sasol in significantly increasing its research and development over the past number of years, and could point to an increasing number of small firms that receive their technology and develop further through the Godisa Incubator Programme and the Tshumisano Technology Stations Programme.
These developments take place in the context of the National Research and Development Strategy (R&D), which were accepted by Cabinet last year and have led to a welcome increase in real terms of Government Science and Technology spending for the first time in a number of years. I am pleased to be able to inform you that it was decided at the Cabinet Lekgotla that we would produce an important complementary strategy on technology transfer. Work on this strategy has been initiated and we intend to produce this strategy in good time to secure the necessary support and resources for its implementation in the next fiscal cycle.
I would like to turn to the issue of our legislative programme. During the course of this year, I hope to present to Parliament legislation on the protection and effective utilisation of indigenous knowledge.
This legislation results from a careful, wide-ranging policy development process, which has been strongly supported since its inception by the Portfolio Committee on Arts, Culture, Science and Technology.
We are in the early stages of developing legislation that will harmonise the governance of Research Councils and Agencies, and Government Science and Technology institutions. The requirement for this legislation, identified in the National R&D Strategy, results from the lack of a single coherent picture of government spending on science and technology, and a need to ensure that institutions conform to a common set of sound research and innovation management practices. Legislation will be presented to Parliament outlining a common enabling framework for research and innovation utilising public finances, and will, among other matters, deal with the vexing question of intellectual property rights that arise from such national investments.
In the very short term, we hope to complete the process of adoption of the South African Council for Natural and Applied Scientific Professions Bill by this Parliament. It has already been the subject of detailed consideration by the Portfolio Committee.
I am very pleased to be able to report to you that the increases in the science vote are to be applied to a number of important strategic areas identified in the National R&D Strategy. Notwithstanding the ongoing positive outcomes from our National System of Innovation, there are many challenges to be addressed. There is an urgent need for enhanced innovation that will lead to new products and services being available to our people, and for increased economic growth mediated through our firms and industries.
The main focus of our spending this year will be the first full year of investment in the Biotechnology Regional Innovation Centres and the National Bioinformatics Network. The Tshumisano Technology Stations Programme and the Godisa Incubator Programme will have substantial increases in resources to strengthen their ability to create and serve small, medium and micro enterprises.
We have also dedicated resources to improved use of technology and innovation in poverty alleviation. This programme will grow with time and the focus in the first year is the identification of new and effective techniques of mobilising our resources in this important arena.
The National Advisory Council on Innovation has advised me that it has completed the process of developing the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Strategy that I requested them to initiate in June last year. This important strategy, which will be taken to Cabinet soon, targets a number of areas related to the Integrated Manufacturing Strategy (of the Department of Trade and Industry), where technology and innovation can make a substantial difference to the quality and productivity of our industry. In addition, work is being undertaken to develop technology and innovation strategies for our resource-based industries.
In all these cases, a combination of reprioritisation and requests for new and additional resources will be used to deliver real value and benefits to our people and under-gird the positive development of our economy.
Science and Technology has made a positive contribution in the development of a vaccine for HIV/AIDS. The South African Aids Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI) was recently reviewed by the Department of Science and Technology and there is every indication that the first phases of the clinical trials will be undertaken during 2003. I would like to applaud all of the South African and international institutions that have joined us in financing this initiative.
Astronomy is good business for South Africa. I have reported in the past on the construction of the South African Large Telescope (SALT). SALT continues to make good progress and we are anticipating that it will reach "first light" during 2004. I hope that it will represent part of the celebration of 10 years of democracy and freedom in South Africa.
More recently, Cabinet gave its support to a South African expression of interest to be the site for the next generation radio telescope, known as the Square Kilometre Array or SKA for short. This radio telescope will be built at a cost of 1 billion dollars, and the nation that hosts this facility is expected to derive a direct economic benefit of about half of this investment. It would be a major development, which would be completed by 2015 and would operate at least until 2050.
It is true that Science and Technology seems sometimes only to take the long view, or in the case of Astronomy, a distant view, but close examination of our system shows that there are considerable challenges in the very short term in increasing the number of scientists, engineers and technologists in South Africa. This includes school-level interventions, strengthening tertiary education and the provision of meaningful careers for the young people who come through the system. Government plays a critical role in this regard and we applaud the initiatives of the Department of Labour and the Department of Education in strengthening our higher education and further education and training domains.
My Department will initiate a "Centres of Excellence Programme" in partnership with the National Research Foundation, which is intended to strengthen post-graduate production in key areas of relevance and importance to our nation. Centres of Excellence concentrate on groups of academics and beneficiaries rather than on individual projects. This has the positive benefit of making a larger contribution over a shorter time period, as well as making the work more interesting and challenging for post-graduate students.
In addition to this, we will be strengthening our investment in key science areas of enduring value to South Africa, including Astronomy, as indicated above, Palaeontology, the Antarctic and the Islands Research Programmes, Indigenous Knowledge and key bio-resources.
There have been a number of positive developments in international relations: I wish to single out our ongoing interaction with the European Union and the ACP countries to secure new financing for science and technology programmes within. We will report the full outcome of this process during the course of the year, but the very practical and targeted nature of science and technology international relations is critical in these uncertain times.
Knowledge defeats poverty. Scientists are involved in the business of developing knowledge. We will continue to build and develop our National System of Innovation to serve the interests of all our people. We invite our colleagues across Government to use knowledge and innovation more widely and more creatively to reduce the costs of delivering services, while at the same time improving the quality of the services, their reach and their impact. We should not only rely on tried and tested solutions, but also continually strive to acknowledge innovation in everything we do.
We will continue to report to you the positive developments arising from Science and Technology as much as we present the continuing challenge to strategically increase our investment in this domain, so that we can employ the next generation of inventors and innovators who will bring new benefits and quality of life to our people.
ARTS AND CULTURE PORTFOLIO
A few weeks ago, the Portfolio Committee on Arts, Culture, Science and Technology invited South Africans to make submissions on the Department of Arts and Culture's Budget. As a people centred government, it was a positive sign to note with appreciation our stakeholders' willingness to partner the department to ensure that resources are a strategic tool to create a better life for all. And with changing demands within the local and global context, the new Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) was formed in August last year.
As we approach the end of the first decade of democracy, we must find means to cement the bonds of our nation. I foresee that culture will be at the centre of developments to celebrate a democracy and what it has made possible in terms of reconstruction and development and nation building and reconciliation.
Madam speaker, the tenth anniversary of our democracy will be next year. The build up will begin this year and celebrations will reach their peak in April 2004, with various local activities and functions at most South African embassies. We have dedicated significant fiscal resources to celebrating this, the major turning point in the history of our country: for projects or programmes on celebrating Ten Years of Democracy, the Department of Arts and Culture has been allocated an amount of R80 million, spread over two financial years.
This is one of the significant increases in baseline allocations in the 2003 Budget, for which our total allocation is R926, 527 million. Others are an amount of R60 million in 2003/04 and R80 million in 2004/05 for the infrastructure needs of our National Library and National Archives and increased allocations to institutions and the Pan South African Language Board (R31, 5 million in 2003/04 and R46, 5 million in 2004/05).
Our institutions are the bedrock of arts delivery and key partners in unlocking creativity and in implementing arts policy. In the next three-year financial cycle, the Department is dedicating considerable resources to the sector. For the 2003/04 financial years the allocation is R30 million; for the 2004/05 financial year the allocation is R45 million. Finally, in the 2005/06 financial years we forecast the budget for institutions at R60million. Out of this purse the National Heritage Council is to be established within the current financial year. One of its objectives is to disburse funding to heritage institutions.
Our playhouses - previously bloated arts councils- continue to transform and we are committed to ensuring their maintenance and the stability of their functioning. Arts institutions assist in creating a sustainable performing arts industry based on access, excellence, diversity and redress. We have earmarked a total of R14m for capital works to playhouses this year. The total budget for Performing Arts Institutions is approximately R80 million. In addition to funding Playhouses -the State Theatre, Artscape, PACOFS and the Playhouse Company-there are increased allocations to the Market and Windybrow Theatres.
Through ring-fenced funds located at the NAC, the department has been creating new arts companies, which are effectively SMME's funded over a three-year period. The advantages of this are manifold, as these smaller entities create stability within the arts and allow creative freedom and the pursuit excellence. This will go a long way to creating role models and ensuring a cadre of industrious performing artists.
While debates on matters concerning our Playhouses have been strong, so too have concerns over the functioning of our orchestras. As a means to meet the needs of a rapidly changing funding environment, DAC developed a policy requiring partnership between local, provincial and national government to support these entities.
In 2002 the first agreement was reached in KwaZulu-Natal and the orchestra received R3 million from DACST. This year, we extend the partnerships to the Western Cape and Gauteng, with agreements to ensure that a total of R9 million is allocated from DAC alone. Orchestras will be developing training programmes to ensure greater representation and participation by young black South Africans.
The budget of the NAC has dramatically increased over the last two years to R42 million, which is committed to supporting performing arts and dance companies at professional level and to developmental, community based projects. These allocations from DAC are used to optimise the value of international relations. Through proposed and signed cultural agreements, most notably with the Norwegian, Flemish and Swedish governments, we will be able to commit significant resources to the development of music and other art forms. For example R25million has been leveraged from the Flanders for five projects looking into community arts centres, arts education and training, cultural management craft and cultural policy to be funded for a period of three years.
We are also in the process of establishing the Swedish/SA Institutional Development Fund with that government, where they will contribute R25 million per year for the next five to ten years. DAC will match these funds by allocating R5million per year. The Fund, to be launched in 2004, will also look at disability issues. Lastly, Norway has made available a sum of R10 million per year until 2005 for the Mmino project, which is located with the National Arts Council. The funding pie for arts and culture has grown as more resources are becoming available. The Ministry has dedicated three officials to the Lottery Board and through them we ensure that we provide access to support the full range of the arts.
Since the turn of the millennium, we have seen rapid growth of our budget at an average annual rate of 18,3% for the arts and culture sector. I believe that this reflects well on the seriousness with which we take our work and on our accelerated rate of delivery. Growth is projected to increase at an annual average 20% over the medium term.
The department geared up for efficient delivery; the added responsibilities and new programmes and projects have necessitated a new structure and organogram. Three new Branches have been formed. They are: Arts, Culture and Language in Society; Cultural Development and International Relations; and Heritage, National Archives and Library Services. In keeping with our commitment to building a strong institutional capacity, our most rapid growth areas are characterised by transfers of a capital nature. R764, 035 million, 83% of the 2003 Budget, will be devoted to transfer payments to support arts, culture and heritage institutions.
The DAC has responsibility for twenty-seven public entities including museums, art galleries, the national Zoological Gardens, the National Archives and the six playhouses mentioned above. A strong and economically healthy nation places emphasis on the construction and maintenance of its facilities. The Department's Capital Works Budget has grown by more than 100%, from R81, 501million in 2002/2003 to R168, 050million in 2003/2004. Examples of how this money is spent, investments that were made in DAC's institutions this year included R7, 8million to the Qunu component of the Nelson Mandela Museum; R6, 3million to the Voortrekker Museum; R5, 5m to the Northern Flagship Institution; R3, 1m to the National Museum and R17million the Robben Island Museum, R4, 5million of which went to the long term project of repairing the breakwater wall on the Island.
Madam Speaker, as we record and make accessible our history it is also important to create conditions to promoting accessible, people centred delivery and information on government and its resources to all of our people. One of the important efforts in which we will be engaged in the coming years is the popularisation of the National Language Policy Framework (NLPF), launched in late March. This important strategy will contribute significantly to service delivery from government and increasing access to the work of government for all. The NLPF promotes the equitable use of our official languages and ensures redress for the previously marginalised indigenous languages.
While a national vision for our people and the use of our languages has been forged, provincial governments should model their policies for promoting multilingualism within the National Language Policy Framework, taking into account regional circumstances and the needs and preferences of local communities.
Building on my budget address last year, I am able to announce new projects developed to enhance communication and information flow, particularly across the language barrier. The Videophone Facility for Sign Language Interpreting was launched in August as part of the TISSA Project. Another TISSA pilot project is currently operational at some forty police stations across the country. In addition we showcased TISSA at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, enabling delegates access 24 hours, seven-days a week to twenty.
I thank you.
For more information contact: Andrew Aphane Ministerial Spokesperson at 082 387 5615, Mack Lewele, Director: Communication at 082 450 5076
Issued by Ministry of Arts, Culture
4 April 2003
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