The legislative mandate of the Department of Arts and Culture is broad, covering a range of institutions and
legislation. The primary legislative mandate of the Department comes from the Constitution of the Republic
of South Africa, which states that –
Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes -
(a) freedom of the press and other media;
(b) freedom to receive or impart information or ideas;
(c) freedom of artistic creativity; and
(d) academic freedom and freedom of scientific research (section 16);
and that -
Everyone has the right to use the language and to participate in the cultural life of their choice, but no one
exercising these rights may do so in a manner inconsistent with any provision of the Bill of Rights (section 30).
Part A of Schedule 4 of the Constitution indicates that matters of culture and language are functional areas of
concurrent competence between national and provincial government.
Supported by the White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage, the following Acts have been promulgated by
Parliament and institutions created in furtherance of the constitutional mandate of the Department of Arts and
Culture: |
