Cultural Affairs and Sport: Integral response to the 4th Industrial Revolution

Today, Western Cape Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Anroux Marais delivered the Department’s 2019/20 Budget Vote Speech in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.

Minister Marais elaborated on how the Department will use the appropriated R820 305 000 million to enable a socially inclusive, creative, active and connected Western Cape.

The Budget Vote Speech embodies the Department’s commitment to responding to the needs of the communities we serve and highlights the instrumental role the Department fulfils in our response to the Forth Industrial Revolution. Minister Marais also shed light on how the national plundering of public funds, maladministration and corruption adversely reduce opportunities for development and upliftment in the Western Cape.  

Highlights include:

• The importance of integrating cultural affairs and sport into the education system and societal discourse as it will indeed reduce the skills gap that the next generation is facing, and subsequently prepare the leaders of tomorrow. We have allocated R210,6 million to Sport and Recreation to financially support the After School Game Changer through the MOD Programme and School Sport to name only a few.
• Empathy, imagination and creativity are not only for tomorrow’s leaders and jobs, they are presently needed to ensure that science and technology are developed in a human-centred way. Today we need to balance advanced technical competences with an unprecedented level of moral complexity that comes with newer technologies. With this in mind, Cultural Affairs will receive R119,07 million for the 2019/20 financial year.
• With the biggest public library service of all the provinces by far, Library and Archive Services is allocated R419,7 million to promote, develop and transform sustainable library, information and archive services. With the arts and humanities at the core of technological processes to enlighten, guide and support the various dialogues needed, the allocated 51% of the overall budget will assist in engaging the full spectrum of human understanding in strengthening our cultural resources.

Minister Marais also elaborated on the stark difference in service delivery outcomes of the last 10 years under the DA’s strategy of consolidating budgets for maximum citizen impact in contrast to the ANC’s “lost” 10 years.