Click to edit Master subtitle style Department of Arts and Culture PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON TOURISM: REVITALISATION OF THE HERITAGE AND

•Click to edit Master subtitle style

Department of Arts and Culture

PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON TOURISM:

REVITALISATION

OF THE HERITAGE

AND CULTURAL

TOURISM IN

SOUTH AFRICA

MR VUSITHEMBA

NDIMA

ACTING DEPUTY

DIRECTOR-

GENERAL:

CULTURAL

HERITAGE


CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION2. INTERACTION AND COORDINATION BETWEEN ARTS AND CULTURE

AND THE DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM3. PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE 4. SKILLS DEVELOPMENT5. PROMOTION OF SOUTH AFRICA’S NATIONAL CULTURAL

HERITAGE6. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED TO PROVINCES AND DISTRICT

MUNICIPALITIES IN PRESERVING AND PROMOTING HERITAGE AND CULTURAL TOURISM

7. CONCLUSION

DAC Department of Arts and Culture

NDT National Department of Tourism

SAHRA South African Heritage Resources Agency2


1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 The work of the Department of Arts and Culture and Tourism is interrelated.

1.2Whilst the DAC facilitates the preservation and development of Artistic, Cultural and Heritage products, the Department of Tourism facilitates their marketing for both domestic and international tourism.

1.3The interdependency and the intersection of the work of both departments necessitates a partnership.

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2. INTERACTION AND COORDINATION BETWEEN ARTS AND CULTURE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF

TOURISM

2.1 Due to the importance of culture in the tourism industry, DAC and NDT are working together in mainstreaming culture in tourism activities .

2.2 The department of Arts and Culture has participated in the workshops that were designed to develop a five year Heritage and Cultural Tourism Strategy.

2.3 The Strategy details the variety of interventions necessary to engender synergies between Heritage and Cultural Tourism

2.4 A Memorandum of Understanding has also been drafted by the two departments, however due to intense consultation in the Department of Arts and Culture, the MOU is still not signed.

2.5 A Steering Committee has also been established in order to facilitate the finalization of the MOU and to develop joint programs thereafter.

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3. PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

3.1 The core business of the Department of Arts and Culture is to preserve, protect and promote our cultural heritage.

3.2As a result, the DAC has developed policies and legislative frameworks to achieve this objective.

3.3Through these legislative frameworks, we have established institutions/agencies in various parts of the country to fulfil the mandate.

3.4These agencies are mandated to identifying vast cultural properties in their various forms: movable and immovable; tangible and intangible.

3.5The process of identification empowers us to conserve and protect our cultural heritage.

3.6 It also empowers us to develop relevant strategies to promote our monuments, memorials, museums, heritage sites and our living heritage.

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3. PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE (cont-)

3.7 As an emergent (young) nation, in the process of transition and transformation, there is a need to identify previously ignored sites located in the urban, semi-urban and rural areas.3.8 A need to package and coordinate new cultural tourism routes that go through our rural towns and villages.3.9 This will ensure that there is local economic beneficiation. 3.10 Cultural tourism has positive externalities for a wide range of industries – hospitality, transport, creative, textile, food and other industries.

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4. SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

4.1. The protection, preservation and promotion of heritage is dependent on people who have the requisite skills to ensure best practice guidelines are adhered to.

4.2Skills and Human Resource Development assist the sector to keep abreast with new technological developments and other global developmental trends.

4.3The Sustainability of any government, state or sector is entirely depended on its skills base.

4.4 It is against this background that the DAC embarked upon the heritage skills audit to produce a Heritage Human Resource Development Strategy.

4.5This was designed to identify scarce skills in the sector and to find ways of producing and retaining those skills.

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4. SKILLS DEVELOPMENT(cont-)

4.6Critical, scarce and priority skills showed shortages and gaps in conservation, collection management, archaeology and heritage management.

4.7As part of the implementation of the strategy, the Department of Arts and Culture introduced a bursaries programme to assist students to study in any field related to Heritage and Cultural Tourism.

4.8 In 2011 (31) Bursaries were awarded to deserving students to serve in the fields of Archaeology, Museology, Curatorship, Anthropology, Heritage and Cultural Tourism.

4.9 In 2012 (71) Bursaries were awarded in the above mentioned fields of study.

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4. SKILLS DEVELOPMENT(cont-)

4.10 In further consolidating the strategy and working closely with Rhodes University, SAHRA has established a Centre for Training, Research and Education (Centre) to address the need for on-going occupationally directed professional development in the heritage sector.4.11 The Centre seeks to promote development of high quality,

accredited in-service and occupationally directed training programmes targeting people working in the heritage sector, e.g. Provincial Heritage Resources Authorities and Local Municipalities. 4.12 Resources have already been allocated towards the operations of the Centre and 45 students have already been accepted with the majority of them coming from Local and Provincial spheres of Government.

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5. PROMOTION OF SOUTH AFRICA’S NATIONAL CULTURAL HERITAGE

5.1 As part of promotion of our Arts, Culture and Heritage, the Department launched – Mzansi Golden Economy Strategy.5.2 The strategy places creative economy at the centre of our endeavours to grow the economy, create jobs and build sustainable livelihood.5.3 It outlines a number of high impact policy interventions aimed at enhancing the contribution of Arts, Culture and Heritage sector towards the national effort to create 5 million jobs within the next ten years.5.4 Among the key projects that have been identified are: Cultural Precincts, Cultural Events, Public Art, Art Bank, Touring Ventures, Sourcing Company, Cultural Observatory, Legacy Project, Liberation Heritage as well as Maritime Heritage.

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5. PROMOTION OF SOUTH AFRICA’S NATIONAL CULTURAL HERITAGE (cont-)

5.5 The success of all on these initiatives and programmes is dependent on partnerships with various Government Departments, the Public and Private sectors.5.6 The National Department of Tourism will be pivotal in this regard.

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6. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED TO PROVINCES AND DISTRICT MUNICIPALITIES IN PRESERVING AND PROMOTING HERITAGE

AND CULTURAL TOURISM

6.1The provision of Cultural Heritage infrastructure in the form of museums, monuments, memorials and theatres cuts across the three spheres of Government.

6.2Similarly, the support of crafts, exhibitions and festivals is spread throughout all the spheres of government.

6.3Existing programmes as well as those envisaged by the Department are implemented at national, provincial and local spheres.

6.4This is testament to the role the Department plays at provincial and local levels.

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6. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED TO PROVINCES AND DISTRICT MUNICIPALITIES IN PRESERVING AND PROMOTING

HERITAGE AND CULTURAL TOURISM (Cont.)

6.5 The Department has just completed an audit of our living heritage (cultural tradition, oral history, performances, rituals, popular memory, skills and techniques, indigenous knowledge systems and the holistic approach to nature, society and social relationships) in all our provinces.6.6 This will assist the Department to develop ways and means of preserving, protecting and promoting these aspects of our heritage.6.7 It is our firm view that the promotion of our living heritage will attract interest for domestic and international tourism.6.8 However, the successful marketing and promotion of all these products depends on the collaboration between the two departments.

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7. CONCLUSION

7.1 The final analysis of what we have presented shows the value of constant and consistent interaction between DAC and NDT7.2 It also emphasises the need to speed up the process of finalizing the MOU.7.3 The onus rests upon us as the DAC to conclude our internal consultative processes.7.4 The finalization of the MOU will serve as a major break through to implement joint projects.

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Thank you

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Click to edit Master subtitle style Department of Arts and Culture PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON TOURISM: REVITALISATION OF THE HERITAGE AND