The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe
SINCE 1980, the arts and culture department has been shifted among various ministerial portfolios, but it was always overshadowed by other units it was bundled with.
It appeared as though there was never really a passion to drive this creative sector to its full potential. Two recent former ministers who led a portfolio that oversaw this sector, Andrew Langa and Abednico Ncube, both failed dismally to bring about any meaningful contribution to the development of the arts.
For decades, players in this sector have longed for the day they would get a minister who really understands them and has the zeal to drive their agenda or better still, they have been praying for a standalone Ministry of Arts and Culture.
However, things might soon be changing with the recent cabinet reshuffle, which saw the department being switched from the Ministry of Rural Development, Preservation and Promotion of Culture and Heritage to the Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture Ministry led by Honourable Makhosini Hlongwane.
The new minister, unlike his predecessors, has hit the ground running and is showing a zeal to move mountains. On Wednesday, Minister Hlongwane became the first minister in recent years to call for a meeting with artistes to discuss their concerns and map a way forward.
The meeting, which was attended by vanguards in the various arts and culture domains, saw the artistes expressing their gratitude to the minister for reaching out to them and starting critical dialogue to change things in the sector.
At the meeting, the minister said contrary to popular belief, Government recognises the importance of the sector and how it can be a major contributor to the country’s GDP.
“The fact that the President has kept the arts and culture department in governmental structures for all these years show that Government recognises the critical role of the sector to the development of the economy,” said Hlongwane.
He said he will focus on getting the sector involved in the real economy.
“A major key area of focus is to try and remove the arts and culture sector from the fringes of the economy to the mainstream – what we call the real economy.
“This, however, calls for a change in attitudes and perceptions. This change can only be achieved through a robust collaboration between Government and players in the sector,” he said.
The minister acknowledged that Government has been failing the sector.
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Said the minister: “We want to remove the bottlenecks that are impeding the growth of the sector. These are situated in the Government policy framework. So from here I will sit down with my team and try to see how we can change things so that bureaucracy on our end as Government will not frustrate growth of the creative sector.”
He also promised that going forward, he will be engaging artistes directly.
“In as much as there are various people in the department of arts and culture that can engage with the artistes, my door is open to engage with the artistes directly and fast-track the turnaround of the sector.
“I have heard from your presentations that some were not furnished with responses when they raised issues to the ministers responsible for the department but let me hasten to say that this is now a thing of the past.
“Lethargy will not be tolerated in this new ministry and I will ensure that communication will flow smoothly between Government and the sector,” he revealed.
Another key factor stifling the growth of the sector is funding. Government has not been funding the sector and artistes are not happy.
Minister Hlongwane said, “As I stated earlier, Government recognises the role it has to play in the development of the sector and this also includes funding the arts.
“However, for me to engage in a fruitful discussion with treasury, we as a sector need to come up with statistics to show how we are impacting the economy. It becomes easier for treasury to avail funds to us if we have figures to prove what we are contributing to the economy as opposed to just demanding for funding.
“As players in the sector, we also have to find ways of starting an arts fund. I have heard some of you say let a certain percentage from the state lottery go into funding the arts, that is a noble idea. However, I would need to discuss with my colleagues on how best to tackle the issue. But indeed the creation of an arts fund is of great importance,” said Minister Hlongwane.
