Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport Budget Speech 2015

Honourable Speaker
Premier
Cabinet colleagues and Members of the Provincial Parliament
Chairperson of the Standing Committee
Head of Department and managers of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport
Our partners in the sport and cultural sectors
Media
Residents of the Western Cape

Introduction
It is indeed a privilege to present to this house the allocation of the Cultural Affairs and Sport budget. I will set out how the budget will be used to reach its maximum potential within a greater strategy of creating opportunities for our people through the improvement of education outcomes and opportunities for youth development.

The Game Changer strategy 
Our government’s game changer strategy can be compared to the strategy game that many of us know – chess. You can only checkmate your opponent if you have a better plan of action. Great strategic moves require a careful strategy and plans which support its aims to reach the final victory. The game requires mental and physical tenacity. Playing chess greatly improves the mind’s ability to develop a strategic approach and the best plan of action for every daily task.

That is what our government’s game changers will ultimately enable – empowerment of people and development of their skills which we require as a society to bring the National Development Plan to fruition.

The Game Changer strategy has been carefully designed to gear the provincial budget of R52 billion towards the ultimate goal – to change the downward spiral that affects certain communities  in our province.

I will now set out some of the elements of the R706,5 million budget vote for Cultural Affairs and Sport for 2015/16, and point out how the budget vote has been allocated to bring about a checkmate.

Improving Education Outcomes and Opportunities for Youth Development
The Department’s budget has been allocated to facilitate social inclusion and create opportunities for our people in the cultural and sport sectors. Our Mass participation; Opportunity and access; Development and growth (MOD) centres have been further developed to introduce new, community-based programmes. These offer learners life-skills training, entrepreneurship training, and opportunities to participate in community development programmes. The MOD Programme is the fulcrum around which the Department’s youth development initiatives revolve, and we will only be able to reach our objectives through effective partnerships. The funding of sport federations and key cultural organisations is therefore vital.

Of particular significance is the increase in the budgets allocated to the Library Service and the MOD Programme. This aims to create opportunities for our people, especially our youth, to participate in sport, recreation, arts and culture and improve access to our libraries, museums and heritage and language services. In recognition of the importance of this, we have allocated R74 million to this area of our work.

The MOD Programme is hosted at 181 primary and high schools across the Western Cape. Generally, primary school-based MOD Centres act as feeders to their neighbouring high school-based MOD Centres. This year I will work with my colleagues in the Education and Social Development departments to develop a model that can be replicated throughout the province. This means that we will be able to facilitate structured and planned daily after-school recreation programmes for our youth that include the provision of fun-filled play activities and opportunities.

The Executive Summary of the National Development Plan 2030 (NDP) 1 says that “the country’s rich cultural legacy and the creativity of its people mean that South Africa can offer unique stories, voices and products to the world. In addition, artistic endeavour and expression can foster values, facilitate healing and restore national pride.” This speaks directly to the key role that this Department plays in contributing to social inclusion, nation-building and national social cohesion.

The Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport activities are strongly aligned to the One Cape 2040 Vision and the Connecting Cape strategy. This will contribute to the development of welcoming, inclusive and integrated communities.

ARTS AND CULTURE
R110 million has been allocated to Programme 2, which includes Arts, Culture, Language, Museums, Heritage and Geographical Names.

The term of office of the Western Cape Cultural Commission ends in April 2015. I have requested the Standing Committee on Community Safety, Cultural Affairs and Sport to invite the public to nominate persons to serve on the Commission for its next term of office.

An accredited training programme for community artists has been negotiated with the University of the Western Cape and the Department intends these to be the benchmark for future interventions in music training.

Local young talent identified and nurtured during the 2014/15 departmental drama initiative from the Eden and Cape Winelands Drama Festivals will be showcased at the Baxter Theatre during March 2015, the ABSA Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees during April and at Die Burger Suidoosterfees in May 2015.

Applications for arts and culture project funding close tomorrow for the 2015/16 financial year. Through this programme, the Department is able to assist organisations in the far corners of our province to practise various art forms or undertake cultural projects. Just over R14 million in subsidies will be transferred to successful applicants in the new financial year.

The Department will again facilitate productive partnerships with professional arts organisations such as Cape Town Opera and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and rural arts organisations. These twinning arrangements continue to expand the reach of arts disciplines and genres and to support professional achievement across the Western Cape. The department will expand its rural arts development programmes to include programmes for youth on farms, to be launched in the Witzenberg Municipality soon.

Drama development will be expanded to the Overberg towns of Swellendam, Bredasdorp, Caledon and Grabouw in a phased programme during the new financial year. The programme will be rolled out in phases from June to November 2015.

A dance development programme in the West Coast District Municipality will be conducted in September 2015 (Heritage Month). This will provide youth with an avenue to give expression to their creative abilities in a safe and enabling environment.

During the 2015/16 year, the Department plans to train 110 artists in arts disciplines such as dance, drama and music.

A professionally choreographed production will be presented in a professional theatre in Cape Town in August 2015. This will celebrate the talent and showcase the successes of the Department’s arts programmes. The Arts Week programme to be presented during February 2016 will take place in the City of Cape Town together with representatives from the rural areas. The aim is to promote those arts forms that are less well-known in order to open up possible career paths for youth.

During 2015/16, the initiation programme will expand its work beyond the health and safety aspects of the practice. It will facilitate dialogue with communities and stakeholders to establish whether there are other ways in which government can contribute to the preservation of this cultural practice. The department will also facilitate the interaction with representatives of the Western Cape Initiation Forum to ensure that preparations are made well in advance of the start of the winter and summer initiation seasons.

LANGUAGE SERVICES AND WESTERN CAPE LANGUAGE COMMITTEE
The 2011 Census indicated a sustained shift in the proportion of first language speakers of the three official languages of the Western Cape. While Afrikaans remains the first language of about half of the province’s population, the proportion of isiXhosa speakers has consistently increased since 1996, and the proportion of Afrikaans speakers has consistently decreased over the same period. The proportion of English first language speakers has remained consistent at about 20% since 1996. Slightly more than 5% of the Western Cape’s population speak a first language that is not one of the three official languages of the province. These trends have provided clear direction for the Department’s Language Services component.

In April 2015 the Department will again offer intermediate basic communication South African Sign Language classes to a group of parents and family members of learners attending the Noluthando School for the Deaf in Khayelitsha. This training helps to bridge the gap between deaf children and their hearing parents and caregivers. This project supplements the capacity building activities of the Western Cape Education Department for hearing teachers at the school.

A seminar on South African Sign Language (SASL) was hosted by the Western Cape Language Committee in partnership with the Department on 27 November 2014. The aim was to consult with deaf communities about how the Western Cape Government can best serve the needs of SA Sign Language users. Recommendations for my attention were compiled by the Language Committee and included in the seminar report. A follow-up workshop with stakeholders is planned for June 2015.

Since its adoption in 2005, an annual survey has been conducted to assess the implementation of the Western Cape Language Policy in specific provincial departments. Departments of the provincial government were provided with resources to establish language units as part of the implementation plan for the Western Cape Language Policy. During 2015/16, a survey will be conducted in all Western Cape Government departments to monitor and assess the progress made with the implementation of the Language Policy over the ten years of its existence. A final report and recommendations by the Language Committee should be available by the end of March 2016.

An English-isiXhosa booklet of government terminology was published in 2014. On International Translation Day on 30 September 2015 a new version of the booklet, with terminology in all three official languages of the Western Cape, will be launched. This booklet will support the uniform use of terminology among language practitioners rendering services to the provincial government. 

The Department will continue to facilitate meetings of the Western Cape Provincial Language Forum. This body comprises language practitioners and meets six times a year to support professional development. In addition, the Forum engages in terminology development and is active in attempts to update the existing orthography for isiXhosa. 

MUSEUM SERVICE AND AFFILIATED MUSEUMS
The Western Cape Museum Policy makes provision for regional museums, a new category museum institution. The establishment of the Cape Town Museum was announced last year. This was the first step towards implementing this aspect of the policy.  Negotiations to secure premises for the museum should be concluded early in the new financial year. The Department will provide infrastructure and technical support for the Museum and is in negotiations with various stakeholders to make use of artefacts and collections currently being held by other heritage institutions and organisations to develop the first exhibitions.

Over the next five years, the Museum Service will adopt a programmatic approach to broaden and deepen its impact on museums and heritage sites. A master plan is being developed for each museum to guide upgrading and renewal of its sites and displays. This ongoing transformation initiative has contributed to making museums more representative of the cultural heritage of the diverse communities of the Western Cape. The introduction of new technology has improved the experience of visitors, as can be seen by the increase in visitor numbers. Over the next three years, exciting new exhibitions and upgrading of facilities are also planned for one of the most popular museums in the Western Cape  the Bartolomeu Dias Museum in Mossel Bay.

HERITAGE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND HERITAGE WESTERN CAPE

Heritage Western Cape hopes to finalise the formal delegation of powers to the City of Cape Town for the management of Grade III heritage resources under the National Heritage Resources Act, 1999 (Act 25 of 1999) during the coming months. The draft Memorandum of Agreement is currently awaiting the approval of the City Council. This will be the first time in South Africa that a competent local authority will formally assume delegated powers for heritage resource management.

In October 2014 a service level agreement was signed with a service provider to develop a heritage information management system for the province. This R4.75 million project will run into the 2016/17 financial year and represents a major investment in the heritage sector in the province. Its completion will, through automation of many processes, lead to far greater levels of efficiency and greater transparency of process. Heritage Western Cape is the lead agency for this project which will be integrated with the province’s My Content programme and will also serve the needs of the Museum Service and Geographical Names Service.

Heritage Western Cape anticipates that its major task in the upcoming financial year will be processing in the region of 3 000 applications. This will be accomplished through 36 meetings of its specialist sub-committees and 44 meetings of its professional staff team.

During the next five years, the groundwork for the establishment of a Khoekhoen heritage site in the Two Rivers Urban Park in Observatory, Cape Town. This will form part of the national Khoisan Legacy project. The site will reflect the history of earliest contact between the Khoehoen and colonial powers in 1510 in Observatory, and recognise the significant role of the Khoekhoen and their descendants in shaping this province and our country. 

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES AND THE WESTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES COMMITTEE
The Western Cape Provincial Geographical Names Committee will continue with the verification of existing geographical names and submit these to the South African National Geographical Names Council. The Committee will also consider applications received for the renaming of geographical features in the Western Cape.

Expanded Public Works Programme
In 2015/16, the Department’s innovative EPWP projects will continue to provide meaningful job opportunities for youth within the arts, culture, heritage, library and archives sector with an allocation of R13,454 million. The programmes are implemented across the province, including rural communities.

LIBRARY SERVICE
Libraries and Archives form part of Programme 3 and has been allocated R360,6 million.

The Library Service, which turns 60 in May 2015, has been working diligently to expand access to its services throughout the Western Cape. There are 361 library centres currently affiliated to the provincial library service and, as new libraries are built and mini-libraries provided, this number will continue to grow.

Five new library facilities will receive funding for the initial phases of building in 2015/16:

• Du Noon Library, City of Cape Town.
• Groendal Library, Stellenbosch Municipality.
• Abbotsdale Library, Swartland Municipality.
• Ashbury Library, Langeberg Municipality.
• Herbertsdale Library, Mossel Bay Municipality.

Libraries that will receive second phase transfers and/ be upgraded are:

• Worcester Library and Avian Park Library, Breede Valley Municipality.
• Kleinmond Library, Overstrand Municipality.
• Suurbraak Library, Swellendam Municipality.
• Conville Library, George Municipality.
• Citrusdal Library, Cederberg Municipality.

To address the unfunded mandate of public libraries, the Department has been receiving considerable financial support from National Treasury and Provincial Treasury. National government’s conditional grant of R158.469 . million for 2015/16 for the enhancement of community libraries will certainly provide huge financial relief. Of this amount, R142.374 million (89.9%) will be transferred to 25 municipalities that provide library services. The funding will be mainly used for staffing, new library buildings, and upgrades and book theft detection systems.

A total of 97.4% of the R60.037 million library service budget will be transferred to 15 Category B3 municipalities. This funding will be used to pay  library staff, and to cover operational and minor capital costs.

The Rural Library Connectivity Project (RLCP) which has been running since the 2008/09 financial year is part of the Broadband Initiative of the Western Cape. This initiative aims to coordinate and integrate government action in order to provide telecommunication infrastructure and enhance skills and usage. By end of the coming financial year, our rural library staff and users will have access to high speed Internet. A total of R19.058 million has been allocated to this project over the 2015 Medium Term Expenditure Framework period.

The Library Service will procure an estimated 228 500 copies of library material to add to the current stock of 6.5 million library items in 361 centres across the province.

The Library Service will continue to provide training opportunities to staff and monitor services through regular monitoring visits. In step with the digital revolution, we will introduce electronic resources. The ultimate goal is that citizens can access these resources remotely from the comfort of their homes, using their library membership.

Adding 27 new libraries will further promote the use of public library services provide access and support for those libraries to use the SITA Library Information Management System.

Our services to the physically challenged remain a priority through assistive technologies, reading material and additional facilities. We aim to expand this service in the 2016/17 year.

A highlight on the library agenda this year is the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) World Congress here in Cape Town in August, expected to be attended by almost 4 000 delegates from 150 countries. It will be the third congress of its kind in Africa since its inception in 1927.

ARCHIVE SERVICE
R36.143 . million is allocated for the implementation of Electronic Content Management (ECM) /MyContent to entrench sound records management and good governance. Part of this project is the digitisation of archival material which represents a major improvement in access to archive services.

SPORT
R175,4 million has been budgeted for the Sport and Recreation Service of the department. As I mentioned earlier, the allocation of R74 million to the MOD Programme for youth form an important component of the budget.

R5,8 million will be transferred to 110 sport federations in the six districts of the province. Funds will be used for administration, development, capacity building and transformation projects. During April I will be visiting the various regions to hand over the grants to the main role players.

In 2015/16, the Department will transfer R1,9 million to the Drakenstein Municipality to build the Cape Winelands Sport Academy at the Dal Josafat Stadium. The academy system is a key pillar of the National Sport and Recreation Plan and we believe an investment in this area will improve the lives of athletes from that area.

Tourism has been identified as a key driver for economic growth in the Western Cape. Our department will therefore support up to 50 major sport events in a diverse range of disciplines. R2 million has been allocated to major events. We are also proud to note that we played a role in securing the International Rugby Board Sevens tournament for the Cape Town Stadium and that we will continue our support to the Cape Epic, the Cape Town Cycle Tour, the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, the Berg River Canoe Race and the Cape Town Marathon, to name just a few.

Part of our mandate is to honour our top athletes so that their achievements inspire thousands of others. To this end, the Department will organise sport awards events in all six districts in November 2015, culminating in the Provincial Sport Awards in March 2016. The winners of these awards go on to the South African Sport Awards.

Speaker, the Club Development Programme is a programme aimed at assisting sport clubs within the Western Cape to become self-sustaining, in line with the National Development Plan. In 2015/16 the Department will support 300 clubs from 22 sports codes across the Western Cape. The clubs will be provided with attire, equipment, capacity building and support for travelling to away games. A total of R9,9 million has been allocated for this purpose.

In line with the Provincial Strategic Objective to promote wellness, the Department will again convene the Regional Better Together Games. The Games will be held in October 2015 in Oudtshoorn, Saldanha, Worcester and Stellenbosch.

Various training courses will be facilitated by my Department in the 2015/16 financial year and I want to highlight one in particular. The Department will train 50 municipal and federation officials through two courses in partnership with the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. The Facilities Management and the Events Planning and Management courses will ensure that municipalities are able to use the Geographical Information Service Database Facilities Management Tool. The end goal is to ensure the optimal use and sustainable maintenance of sports facilities in the Western Cape, reduce waste and mitigate the risk of vandalism.

RECREATION
Recreation is the platform from which sport, arts and culture develop and grow. It promotes a philosophy and ethos of healthy living and lifelong learning and it also provides activities via modified sport – indigenous sport; farm centre sport; community centre sport; senior citizen sport; and big walks. Recreational activities and modified sport are offered at a number of farm and community centres across the province.

My Department works with the preservation and conservation of indigenous knowledge through indigenous games such as jukskei, morabaraba, kho-kho and kgati. Local competitions will take place in 26 local and 6 district municipalities in April/ May. The best athletes will go on to participate in the provincial championships in June/ July and the best of those will represent the Western Cape in the National Indigenous Games to take place in September 2015.

Speaker, if we can see further than many others it is because our future has been built on the shoulders of our older citizens. To this end, we facilitate their participation in sport and recreation via the Golden Games. These start at local home-based centres during the months of April, May and June. The best go on to participate in provincial games in September and the best performers at that event will on to the National Golden Games in October 2015.

In order to keep fit and healthy and in line with trying to promote healthy communities and lifestyles, the Department will this year support International Big Walk Day on 3 October 2015. 

SCHOOL SPORT
A Joint Provincial Task Team (JPTT) has been established to oversee school sport in the province. The JPTT brings together representatives of Cultural Affairs and Sport, as well as Education. It will meet at least twice per school term and regularly consult with the Western Cape Provincial Sport Confederation in its capacity as custodian of sport in the Western Cape.

This year will see the second Western Cape School Sport Indaba being co-hosted by our government. Funds have also been allocated towards the establishment and consolidation of school sport code structures at provincial and district level. This year we will once again support the promotion and coordination of inter-school sport leagues, and participation in the National School Sport Championships to be held in Pretoria in December 2015.

IN CONCLUSION
When playing chess, the final moves are a matter of implementing the strategy that was planned from the start. Good players anticipate what their opponents might do and plans their moves to stay one step ahead. In the challenges that face our country, the opponent is not the opposition party, but the well-being of our people. As a government, and as a Department, we need to bring about measurable change in the lives of people who depend on our facilities and our services. The budget that I present today boasts a suite of services which will touch the lives of individuals, and will help us to build an inclusive society.

To move to checkmate, I will need the support of my Department, and stakeholders and role players from the private sector, towards our common goal of opportunities for all our people.