Arts policy must reflect realities of the day
The Department of Arts and Culture hosted a workshop to present
a revised draft White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage to its
stakeholders on 12 July 2013.
The White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage is the main policy
framework for the department and the sector. It provides a
vision and is a basis for the current institutional framework in
the sector. However, it is important to acknowledge that at the
time when the White paper was adopted (1996), it was meant
for a branch or programme within what was then the Department
of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology. However, in 2004,
a fully-fledged Ministry of Arts and Culture was created. The
establishment of a separate Ministry served as government’s
acknowledgement of the importance and relevance of arts,
culture and heritage in our national priorities.
In addition to the responsibility to promote the arts, preserve
and protect heritage, the creative sector has emerged as an
important role player in social cohesion, national identity and job
creation. The Department of Arts and Culture thus believes its
mandate has expanded since the adoption of the White Paper in
1996. The review process must fully respond to the mandate of
the department. The Mzansi Golden Economy Strategy has also
enhanced the role of arts and culture in sustainable economic
growth and development.
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Speaking at the review workshop, Minister Paul Mashatile
emphasised that “the realities of the day required for the
White Paper to be reviewed. Government must assume its
responsibility and lead the process. As we do that, we must
be inclusive to ensure that the final product is acceptable to
everyone in the sector. We are a multi-cultural society and the
outcome of this process (White Paper Review) should reflect
that”, said Mashatile.
The Director-General of the Department, Mr. Sibusiso Xaba
argued in his presentation that one of the modern-day realities
was that the arts, culture and heritage sector had to do more with
little resources. He said while the department would continue
to adhere to good governance and compliance, the “shrinking
budget” required that the department did things differently
to ensure that it spent most of its budget on service delivery.
“One of the possibilities is to consider clustering some of the
compliance functions of our public entities. It is not economically
viable to have a Board of Directors for each of our 28 public
entities”, said Xaba.
After the workshop, the department will take the draft White
Paper to Parliament. It is expected that parliament will conduct
its own public participation process and conclude the process
by the end of the year.
CORPORATE SOCIAL REVIEW