BUDGET VOTE TO MAINSTREAM
ARTS IN THE ECONOMY

The Department of Arts and Culture is bristling with confidence as it prepares for its Budget Vote in Parliament on 1 June 2011. Significantly, it will be for the first time that the Budget Vote is presented by newly appointed minister, Mr Paul Mashatile.

The Budget Vote will take place after a successful National Consultative Conference on the New Economic Growth Path which took place in Newtown, Johannesburg on 14 - 15 April.

Mashatile’s prelude to the Budget Vote presentation at the conference has largely been hailed as a great achievement for its clarity of vision and purpose. It brought together hundreds of delegates to an event that is viewed as marking a turning point in how the sector is perceived. Importantly, it has placed arts, culture and heritage in the mainstream of the economy. The Budget Vote has already generated excitement in both the Department and the sector as it is expected to amplify the plans and resolutions presented at the conference.... read more here

Acting DG Veliswa Baduza, Minister Paul Mashatile, Consultant Trish Hanekom and Deputy Minister Joe
Phaahla in discussion

THE BRAINS BEHIND A
HISTORIC CONFERENCE

To achieve his dream to “reposition the arts, culture and heritage sector” and transform how it is perceived, Minister Paul Mashatile did not hesitate to appoint renowned strategist and consultant Dr Trish Hanekom to take up the redefining strategies. She immediately delved into research on the contribution of the arts, culture and heritage to the New Economic Growth Path.
Although only tasked in November 2010, Dr Hanekom was ready to present a draft strategy as early as February 2011.

She immediately established a task team of knowledgeable experts and officials within the Department to drive the process.… read more here

Consultative Summit Committee

NEW ECONOMIC ENGINE FOR THE
ARTS SECTOR

Newtown, Johannesburg, 14-15 April 2011 was the biggest conference on arts and culture in history. People from all walks of the sector came to witness and
experience what is largely understood to be a turning point in the contribution of the arts, culture and heritage to the economy.

The Minister of Arts and Culture, Mr. Paul Mashatile and his deputy, Dr Joe Phaahla were hands-on throughout the two days’ National Consultative Summit on the contribution of the Creative Industries to the New Growth
Path.... read more here