Speech - 2026/27 Budget Cultural Affairs and Sport

24 March 2026 – Speech by Minister Ricardo Mackenzie, Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport Western Cape

We table this Budget Vote at a time when government is required to make sharper choices with fewer resources, while responding to deeper and more complex social challenges.

Across our province, we see the pressures clearly: young people navigating environments of risk, communities seeking connection and opportunity, and families looking for spaces that are safe, structured, and supportive.

In this context, the work of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport is not peripheral. It is foundational. Because long before government intervenes in crisis, it must invest in prevention. Long before we speak about recovery, we must create belonging. And long before opportunity can be seized, it must first be made visible and accessible.

This Budget is therefore not a statement of expenditure. It is a statement of intent, to build a Western Cape where every resident has access to participation, where talent has a platform, and where pathways to opportunity are real and within reach.

Speaker, this year, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport reaches a significant milestone, for the first time, our budget exceeds R1 billion.

This is a clear signal of confidence by the Western Cape Government in the upstream work of this Department, work that invests in prevention, strengthens social cohesion, and creates pathways to opportunity long before crisis takes hold.

It is also a budget that translates into real, targeted investments, from support to artists and cultural platforms, to community-based programmes, to strategic events that unlock local economic activity.

ARTS, CULTURE AND CREATIVE ECONOMY

Speaker, arts and culture are not luxuries. They are the foundation of how communities see themselves, how they express identity, and how they find belonging. But they are also economic.

The World Bank has consistently highlighted the growing role of the creative economy as a driver of future growth, employment, and innovation. That is why our investment in arts and culture is deliberate, not only to preserve identity, but to unlock jobs, enterprise, and opportunity.

Therefore, in the 2026/27 financial year, we allocate R21 million to the Annual Arts, Culture and Heritage Funding Programme. This investment supports artists, organisations, and community initiatives across the province, enabling, production, performance, and participation, while stimulating local economies and sustaining livelihoods.

We are deliberate in how we invest, ensuring that the creative economy is not only supported, but actively enabled to grow and create jobs. Because when an artist is supported, an ecosystem is activated, from production teams to venues, from technical crews to local vendors.

Recognising the growing contribution of the film sector, R3 million is ring fenced within the Annual Arts, Culture and Heritage Funding Programme to support film development, positioning the Western Cape as a globally competitive destination for production, while opening pathways for local creatives into a high-growth industry and connecting them to international markets.

At community level, we are strengthening the foundations of this ecosystem.

Therefore, an allocation of R500,000 to Community Arts Centres, ensures that access to creativity is rooted where talent first emerges.

Because when we invest at that level, we are building pipelines:

•    From community to stage.
•    From stage to income.
•    And from income to dignity.

Speaker, just this past weekend, I attended the Zabalaza Theatre Festival at the Baxter Theatre, where it was inspiring to see emerging artists take to the stage with confidence, creativity, and purpose.

Among those performers are young people who, not long ago, were practicing their craft in community spaces, and today are stepping onto professional stages with the confidence that they belong there.

Some of these young artists are present here in Parliament today, and I want to recognise them. Because they represent exactly what this investment is intended to achieve, not potential in theory, but opportunity in action.

EVENTS AND ECONOMIC PLATFORMS

Speaker, we are deliberate in how we build platform that connect creativity to opportunity. Given the importance of the Cultural, Creative and Sports industries to the South African economy, it is important for government to leverage its potential for economic growth.

Through an additional allocation of R10 million to our Hallmark and Incubator Events Programme, we are expanding platforms that attract visitors, create markets for creatives, and position the Western Cape as a leading cultural and sporting destination.

At the George Arts, Culture and Sport Festival December 2025, over 150 artists, vendors, and support services were directly activated, creating income, visibility, and opportunity across the value chain.

On Saturday evening, I attended the Cape Town Carnival, where nearly 50,000 people gathered in a shared space of celebration, expression, and pride. As I walked through the crowds, I heard different languages, different accents, from across South Africa and beyond, all drawn to experience the richness of our culture.

This is social cohesion in action, not something we speak about, but something we see, hear, and feel. It is also economic participation in action. Because behind every performance are individuals who earn an income, who sustain households, and who contribute to local economies through their talent.

And part of the Cape Town Carnival experience was the Kaapse Klopse, performing with energy, discipline, and pride, alongside dance groups and other bands, showcasing a living heritage that continues to bring people together.

Therefore, in the 2026/27 financial year, the allocation to the Kaapse Klopse, Cape Malay Choirs, and Christmas Choir Bands increases to R2 million, recognising their role not only in heritage preservation, but in building community and enabling livelihoods.

COMMEMORATIONS AND TALENT PLATFORMS

Speaker, separate from our ongoing programme investments, we have made provision for targeted, once-off community commemorations that recognise important milestones in the life of our province.

In this financial year, these include the Mitchells Plain 50th, Mfuleni 50th, and Atlantis 60th commemorations.

These are not simply commemorative events. They are structured platforms of identity, dignity, and economic participation, where communities come together not only to reflect on their history, but to activate local talent, support small enterprises, and create opportunity through culture.

TALENT DEVELOPMENT PLATFORMS

We are building on the success of the Western Cape Star Search, our “Got Talent” platform, which has already seen successful launches in Mitchells Plain, George, and Matzikama. Following the 2025/26 pilot activations, the 2026/27 rollout will continue in these areas. This approach allows the programme to strengthen systems and refine delivery, while the Department will continue to explore ways to broaden participation as resources allow.

And I must say, Speaker, Members of this House should get their singing voices ready, as the Star Search continues to uncover and celebrate the extraordinary talent in our communities.

But Speaker, this is not simply a talent show. It is a system of discovery. It identifies raw talent within communities, provides structured exposure, and connects participants to real pathways within the creative economy, from performance opportunities to professional development and industry access.

And it is the responsibility of government to close that gap, deliberately, systematically, and at scale.

CHORAL MUSIC PROGRAMME

Speaker, we continue to invest in structured cultural programmes that create meaningful platforms for participation and performance. An allocation of R1 million to the Choral Music Programme strengthens artistic development by enabling choirs to perform in curated festival environments where their talent is showcased and valued.

From recent performances at the Artscape Theatre to our third Choral Concert held in Worcester, where the Cape Winelands Mass Choir opened the programme, we are seeing the power of collective voice bringing communities together in shared cultural experience.

Similarly, our R3 million investment in the Rieldans and Umxhentso Programme expands participation, particularly among young people, while affirming cultural identity and pride across communities.

HERITAGE AND CULTURAL IDENTITY

Speaker culture must be practiced with dignity, structure, and safety.

For this reason, the Customary Initiation Programme receives an additional R2 million in the 2026/27 financial year, strengthening governance, improving coordination, and ensuring that rites of passage are conducted responsibly, in partnership with communities.

It translates into tangible support at initiation sites across the province, including the provision of essential resources such as fire extinguishers, fire buckets, first aid kits, protective clothing, sanitation supplies, JoJo water tanks, and rehydration materials.

It also enables targeted training and capacity-building interventions, including health and hygiene awareness, first aid, environmental management, and organisational development for traditional leaders and caregivers.

LANGUAGE AND INCLUSION

Speaker, beyond being a tool for communication, Language is a gateway to dignity, access, and participation.

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to speak at a national Language Summit, where leaders, academics, and practitioners gathered to reflect on the future of language in South Africa. What stood out to me was a simple but important truth, in the Western Cape, we do not only speak about language preservation, we act on it.

At that engagement, I handed over Nama language materials (booklets) as part of our ongoing commitment to restoring and promoting indigenous languages in a practical and meaningful way. These are not symbolic gestures, they are tools for learning, for teaching, and for ensuring that language is carried forward to the next generation.

We remain committed to advancing multilingualism in the Western Cape, with a clear focus on previously marginalised languages and South African Sign Language.

To give effect to more of this, the Indigenous and Sign Language Promotion Programme receives R1 million, supporting accessibility, strengthening Deaf culture, and advancing the development of indigenous languages, including Kaaps.

And I want to take a moment to acknowledge members of the Deaf community who are with us today, including Jabaar, and to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that accessibility and inclusion are not optional, but standard.

Because a province that values all its languages is a province that values all its people.

LIBRARIES AND YOUTH OPPORTUNITY

Speaker, if there is one institution that quietly holds communities together, it is the library.

Libraries are the most democratic spaces in our society. They are where a child discovers reading, where a jobseeker accesses opportunity, where a student studies, and where a community finds a safe place to gather.

That is why, in partnership with the YearBeyond programme, we are formally driving a simple but powerful campaign across the Western Cape: “On Wednesdays We Read.” Through this initiative, we are encouraging every learner, every parent, every educator, every resident and every Member of this House to commit just 30 minutes, once a week, to reading. 

Through the YearBeyond programme, we are investing R3 million in the 2026/27 financial year into the “1 000 Stories” initiative, placing young people directly into libraries across the Western Cape as reading champions.

This programme does two things at once. It creates pathways into work for young people, while building pathways into literacy for children. It also exposes young people to new experiences within our library spaces, strengthening both their skills and their sense of purpose.

The demand for this opportunity is clear. More than 50,000 young people applied for just over 4,000 positions nationally, with 3,250 of those opportunities here in the Western Cape.

In the year ahead, we will expand this programme further, growing participation from 364 to over 537 youth placed in libraries, while extending its focus beyond reading into coding and digital literacy.

We will also strengthen integration across our system, embedding Playmakers within MOD programmes, piloting delivery with the City of Cape Town, and expanding into clinics through partnerships linked to Healthy Futures and Kulisa Cares.

This expansion will see over 537 young people placed across 272 libraries in 25 municipalities, significantly increasing access to reading support, learning programmes, and digital literacy platforms across the province.

These are not isolated interventions; they form part of a deliberate strategy to close the learning gap and build a culture of reading at scale.

In order to ensure sustainability of the Public Library service, clarity of responsibility, and improved service delivery across the system, in 2026/27, we will continue the assignment of the function to the remaining municipalities.

To facilitate this:
•    An additional allocation of R6 million to strengthen Municipal Replacement Funding, ensuring that libraries remain open, functional, and accessible, particularly in communities where fiscal pressures place these services at risk.

•    An additional R2 million is allocated to refresh multilingual library collections, ensuring that residents can access material in languages that reflect their identity and lived experience; and

•    An allocation of R3 million will replace the outdated SLIMS system with a modern, integrated digital platform, ensuring that our libraries are not only repositories of books, but gateways to information, technology, and opportunity in a digital society.

These investments translate into more books on shelves, more children reading after school, more young people accessing digital resources, and more communities having safe, structured spaces to learn and grow. Because every library that is open, active, and resourced is more than a building, it is a platform for opportunity, a place of dignity, and an investment in the future of our province and country.

ARCHIVES

Speaker, our Archives Service plays an equally critical role in the functioning of a capable and accountable state. Archives are not simply records of the past. They are instruments of accountability in the present, and safeguards for the future. Because without proper records, there can be no transparency. Without transparency, there can be no accountability. And without accountability, there can be no trust in government.

And Speaker, this is not theoretical work. It is active, it is visible, and it is reaching people.

During our most recent Annual National Archives Awareness Week, we engaged 944 participants through exhibitions, workshops, and educational programmes, while our digital platforms reached over 3.4 million impressions, connecting citizens to their history, their rights, and their place within our democratic story.

This is what modern archives must be, not silent repositories,
but active instruments of access, justice, and public engagement.

For the year 2026-27, the National Archives Awareness Week, will be celebrated in May under the theme “Archives for Justice”, highlighting the role of records in protecting memory, enabling transparency, and supporting the lived realities of our people.

Building on this momentum, in October 2026, we will host a Records Management Symposium, bringing together Accounting Officers and Records Managers to strengthen compliance, improve governance practices, and reinforce institutional accountability across government.

Through our recent engagements on the role of Artificial Intelligence in archives and records management, we are positioning the Western Cape not only to preserve records, but to modernise how they are managed, accessed, and protected in a rapidly evolving digital environment.

Because Speaker, memory that is not preserved is memory that is lost.

SPORT AS AN UPSTREAM INVESTMENT

Speaker, Sport is one of the most powerful tools we have to shape behaviour, build discipline, and create opportunities, particularly for young people. But more than that, sport is one of the most effective upstream interventions available to government.

Therefore, in the 2026/27 financial year, we will sustain participation of over 72,000 learners through the MOD Programme, with a 93 per cent engagement rate, while expanding from 315 to approximately 335 centres across the province.

This expansion translates into 20 additional centres of opportunity, directly reaching an estimated 5,000 more young people, and strengthening our ability to place structured programmes inside the communities that need them most.

But Speaker, this is not just about reach, it is about system-building.
Across our broader school sport ecosystem, we are already seeing scale and impact:

•    Over 12,600 learners participated in provincial-level school sport competitions,

•    Nearly 160,000 learners participated at district level,

•    And more than 3,000 learners have progressed into national-level participation pathways.

These are not isolated numbers, they represent a functioning system of identification, development, and progression.

Speaker, we are investing R78 million in the MOD Programme in 2026/27, including targeted expansion funding, to strengthen delivery, improve access to equipment and facilities, and support the workforce that sustains these programmes on the ground.

One of these examples is Liesle Hendricks, long-time coach, choreographer and mentor from Lavender Hill, has been crowned the Gold Winner in the Best Resident category at the 2025 Provincial Service Excellence Awards. Today, she represents what it means to grow through opportunity and return as a leader.

“They don’t need to see what they look like. They need to feel what they’re becoming,” she often tells learners.

And become, they have,
Under her wing:

•    Mikyla Naaiman joined her programme six years old. Today Mikyla is a seasoned performer who has danced on the international stage and starred in the Netball World Cup Opening Ceremony. 
•    Dehne Basson progressed through the programme and earned a spot at the prestigious Rainbow Academy.
•    Jordan George, Ghalieka Isaacs and Brandon Samuels now feature in TV shows, music videos and Showmax productions, returning often to mentor the next generation.

Through Liesle’s leadership, Lavender Hill is no longer just a headline, it’s a stage.

Her learners have showcased their talent at:

•    The Cape Town Carnival (since 2010)
•    The Hip Hop Indaba
•    Project 021 (with five consecutive 1st place wins)
•    National TV appearances on the Expresso Show
•    And even at the Shanghai International Youth Festival

Young people who enter through participation, who are supported through structure, and who return as role models.

We are also building a coherent and integrated system of school sport,  one that moves beyond isolated activity and creates structured pathways for participation, development, and progression.

Through the implementation of the Western Cape School Sport Strategy, we are expanding structured leagues across all districts, improving access for rural and no-fee schools, and ensuring that every learner has the opportunity to participate in organised sport.

This work is supported by a R55 million investment in School Sport. Of this, R36 million is specifically allocated to infrastructure through the construction of multipurpose courts, bringing quality sport facilities into communities where access has historically been limited.

This forms part of the broader R130 million investment in the Western Cape School Sport Strategy over the MTEF.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES

Speaker, we are also aligning our infrastructure investments with long-term global opportunities. An allocation of R15 million is directed toward the Cricket World Cup Legacy Infrastructure Upgrades, strengthening key facilities such as Boland Park and Newlands Cricket Ground, not only as international venues, but as accessible platforms of opportunity for young people across our province.

Because Speaker, this investment is not about elite sport alone. It is about access. It is about aspiration. And it is about ensuring that a young person from Kayamandi, Mitchells Plain or Khayelitsha does not only watch the game, but can one day step onto that field.

I still remember, as a young boy travelling from Eerste River to Newlands to watch my first international rugby match in 1995, when the Springboks played Romania, what that moment felt like. Because in that moment, you don’t just watch a game, you begin to believe that you, too, can be part of something greater.

That is what this investment represents.

WORK OPPORTUNITIES AND PATHWAYS

Speaker, but what brings this system to life are the young people who step into these opportunities.

Over the past year, 701 school-going athletes from across the Western Cape were supported to participate in the various editions of the South African National School Sport Championships, held between April and December 2025.

These championships are no longer a single event, but a national system of competition across multiple sporting codes, including Athletics, Aquatics, Rugby, Football, Netball, Gymnastics, Goalball, Softball and Table Tennis.

And Speaker, the results speak for themselves.

From gold medal performances in rugby, to dominance in gymnastics and table tennis, to strong performances across athletics, aquatics, and disability sport categories, Team Western Cape consistently performed at the highest level.

In the Winter Games, the Western Cape were declared overall champions. In the Summer Games, we finished as runners-up. And for the first time since the inception of the Championships in 2012, when all results across the year were combined, the Western Cape was declared the overall National School Sport Champions for 2025. 

I want to acknowledge my colleague, Minister David Maynier for the partnership and for enabling this investment.  

Among them:

•    Zubair Smith from Steenberg High School — flying high in Gymnastics
•    Inathi Dlaza from Athlone School for the Blind — taking to the Goalball court with courage
•    Amaru Joseph from Vanrhynsdorp — sharp and steady in Table Tennis
•    Jordin Jacobs from Lavender Hill High School — representing us proudly in Softball

And I must highlight Roche Munro from Mossel Bay.

Roche wrote to me last year, sharing what it meant to wear Western Cape colours at the Winter Games. That young man has now been recognised as his school’s Junior Male Athlete of the Year.

Speaker, these young people do not only chase medals. They carry the hope and dignity of their communities. And we see this excellence emerging across the province, from athletes like Naeem Jack from Mitchells Plain, who is already among the fastest in the country.

This is what happens when opportunity is structured, supported, and sustained. And I wish to acknowledge and thank the Honourable Premier and my Cabinet colleagues for their leadership and support in enabling these investments, and in recognising the critical role this Department plays in building a safer, more inclusive, and opportunity-driven Western Cape.

PARTNERING

Speaker, in DCAS we do not rely solely on the fiscus. We are also expanding access through partnership. Through collaboration with MTN, Golden Arrow Bus Services, and SAFA, we have introduced the School Sport Travel Voucher initiative, removing one of the most significant barriers to participation: transport. Because for too many young people, opportunity stops at the school gate.

Through this partnership, that barrier is being removed. Learners are now able to travel, to compete, and to be seen. And to our partners, some of whom are with us here today, we thank you for unlocking opportunity.

Speaker, And this is what partnership looks like in practice. Through our work with KNOX Hydrate, a young rugby player, 12-year-old Noah Swartz from West End Primary in Mitchell’s Plain, was recently surprised with a major sponsorship.

That young boy broke down in tears. Because in that moment, we saw him. We believed in him. And in that belief, we were not only investing in his future, we were supporting a single mother at home, strengthening the foundation from which he rises.

His principal, Mr Clive Arries, and his coach, Mr Muhammad Faizel Toefy, have supported him every step of the way. This is what partnership does. It does not only fund programmes. It changes lives. And it builds a province where every young person, from Roche Munro to Noah Swartz, has room to dream, to grow, and to thrive.

Speaker, This model will not end here. We are expanding this partnership approach into other sporting codes, including rugby and netball, ensuring that more young people across the province are able to access structured competition and development pathways.
Because when government provides the system, and partners extend the reach, the impact is multiplied.

In the 2026/27 financial year, we will create over 200 new work opportunities through EPWP, YearBeyond, and training partnerships.

These are not temporary interventions, they are entry points, entry points into the world of work, into structured environments, and into opportunity.

And many of these young people come directly from the communities we serve through MOD centres and school sport programmes. This is how the system connects:

•    A young person enters through participation.
•    They are supported through structured programmes.
•    And they transition into opportunity.

That is the pathway we are building.

Speaker, we are also expanding our focus on mass participation at scale, particularly in the area of running. The Western Cape is increasingly becoming a global destination for major running events,  from the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, now positioned among the world’s leading races, to the Two Oceans Marathon, and the growing Nelson Mandela Freedom Race which has added FNB to its list of supporters.

These are not only elite events, they are platforms of participation, they are spaces where ordinary residents, from every community, can take part, compete, and belong.

But Speaker, we must also be honest, for many people, the cost of participation remains a barrier, and if we are serious about inclusion, then access cannot be limited by affordability. That is why we will be working with the City of Cape Town and key partners to strengthen our contribution toward making running more accessible across the province.

This includes expanding opportunities for community participation, supporting race access, and ensuring that more young people, particularly from underserved communities, are able to enter and participate in these events.

Because when we invest in running at this level, we are not only supporting sport, but we are also activating communities, we are promoting healthier lifestyles. And we are creating platforms where people can gather, participate, and take ownership of public space.

And importantly, we are ensuring that a young person from Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Thembalethu or Beaufort West can stand on the same start line, with the same opportunity, as anyone else.

CONCLUSION

Speaker, this Budget Vote is built on a simple, but firm understanding. That opportunity must be taken into communities, it does not emerge by itself. That participation must be structured, it does not sustain itself.

And that belonging must be built, it does not happen in a vacuum. But it is also built on a second understanding, one that has been evident throughout this Budget, that government cannot do this work alone. The scale of the challenge requires partnership. The reach we seek requires collaboration. And the impact we aim for requires a shared commitment, between government, the private sector, federations, and communities.

Speaker, this year, as this Department crosses the R1 billion mark, it is not simply a budget milestone. It is a recognition, a recognition that the work of Cultural Affairs and Sport is not peripheral, it is central to how we build a safer, more inclusive, and opportunity-driven province.

It is an affirmation of the upstream approach, that by investing early, consistently, and deliberately, we can shape outcomes before they become crises.

Because when a young person finds purpose in a MOD centre, when a learner is able to travel and compete because a barrier has been removed, when an artist stands on a stage and earns an income from their craft, when a child opens a book and begins a journey of learning, or when a community gathers and sees its culture and heritage reflected with pride, we are not simply delivering programmes.

We are building structure. We are building dignity. And we are building opportunity where it matters most.

We are strengthening the systems that hold communities together.

And we are working with partners to ensure that no young person is left without a pathway. Because ultimately, this Budget is about one thing. Ensuring that every person in the Western Cape has the opportunity not only to participate, but to progress, to belong, and to succeed.

I thank you.