Department: Arts and Culture, South Africa

Departmental Vision and Mission

Vision

The vision of the Department of Arts and Culture is to develop and preserve South African culture to ensure social cohesion and nation-building.

Mission

• Develop and promote arts and culture in South Africa and mainstream its role in social development.

• Develop and promote the official languages of South Africa and enhance the linguistic diversity of the country.

• Improve economic and other development opportunities for South African arts and culture nationally and globally through mutually beneficial partnerships, thereby ensuring the sustainability of the sector.

• Develop and monitor the implementation of policy, legislation and strategic direction for the identification,conservation and promotion of cultural heritage.

• Guide, sustain and develop the archival, heraldic and information resources of the nation to empower citizens through full and open access to these resources.

Constitutional and Legislative Mandate

The primary legislative mandate of the Department comes from the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, which states that:

Section 16 (1) “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes-

a) freedom of press and other media;
b) freedom to receive or impact information or ideas;
c) freedom of artistic creativity ;and
d) academic freedom and freedom of scientific research”, and

Section 30 “Everyone has the right to use language and to participate in the cultural life of their choice, but no one exercising these rights may do so in manners inconsistent with any provision of the Bill of Rights”.

Emanating from the White Paper on Arts and Culture and Heritage, the following Acts have been promulgated by Parliament to create institutions in furtherance of the constitutional mandate of the Department of Arts and Culture:

• National Archives and Record Service of South Africa Act, 1996 (Act 43 of 1996)
• Cultural Institutions Act, 1998 (Act 119 of 1998)
• Culture Promotion Act, 1983 (Act 35 of 1983)
• South African Geographical Names Council Act, 1998 (Act 118 of 1998)
• Heraldry Act, 1962 (Act 18 of 1962)
• Legal Deposit Act, 1997 (Act 54 of 1997)
• National Arts Council Act, 1997 (Act 56 of 1997)
• National Film and Video Foundation Act, 1997 (Act 73 of 1997)
• National Heritage Council Act, 1999 (Act 11 of 1999)
• National Heritage Resources Act, 1999 (Act 25 of 1999)
• Pan South African Language Board Act, 1995 (Act 59 of 1995)
• National Library of South Africa Act, 1998 (Act 92 of 1998)
• South African Library for the Blind Act, 1998 (Act 91 of 1998)

Key measurable Objectives

In an effort to attain Departmental Vision, the following measurable objectives were pursued and are aligned to the legislative mandate of the department:

a) Coordinate and support the national strategic programs by developing and reviewing policy and legislation and developing systems for monitoring and evaluation.

b) Increase and facilitate access to and broader participation in arts and culture through policy formulation, legislation and equitable funding.

c) Develop, promote and protect the 11 official languages through policy formulation, legislation and the implementation of the language policy in order to allow South Africans to realise their language rights.

d) Increase the access and participation of grassroots arts practitioners in cultural industries economic activities through training, legislation and international opportunities.

e) Ensure the transformation of the heritage landscape as a vehicle for nation-building and social cohesion, through the implementation of heritage policies and legislation.

f) Enable transparency and evidenced-based good governance of archives, records, published information, and the heraldic and symbolic inheritance of the nation through institutional management, regulation and development.