Department of Arts and Culture

THE CHARTER FOR AFRICAN CULTURAL RENAISSANCE

CONTENT

1.Purpose of the presentation2.Background on the Charter3.Strategic Focus of the Charter4.Process undertaken for ratification5.Implementation strategy 6.Reference Group 7.List of relevant National Departments 8.Implications of the Charter9.Way Forward10.Recommendations

PURPOSE

To brief the Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture on the African Union Charter for African Cultural Renaissance, submitted to Parliament for consideration and approval for ratification in terms of the section 231 (2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

To obtain inputs on the associated draft implementation strategy for the Charter in South Africa.

BACKGROUND The Charter for African Cultural Renaissance was endorsed

by the first African Union Conference of Ministers of Culture held in Nairobi 10 -14 December 2005 and adopted by the 6th ordinary session of the African Union Assembly that was held in Khartoum, Sudan on 24 January 2006.

The Charter recognizes the role of culture in political emancipation and in economic and social development, considering that, cultural exchanges and initiative contributes to mutual enrichment, understanding between human beings and to peace amongst states.

Of member states of the African Union, six (6) Member States which are: Mali, Senegal, Nigeria, Congo, Chad and Ethiopia have ratified the Charter and twenty eight (28) Member States have signed it so far.

Like other international instruments, the Charter does not replace any national cultural policies but complements and strengthen existing cultural policies and cultural engagements in the continent.

STRATEGIC FOCUS OF THE CHARTER

The Charter for African Cultural Renaissance has a number of outcomes specifically the promotion of the unified combination of culture, arts, cultural values, language, heritage and cultural and creative industries as central to sustainable development. In practical terms, these outcomes have a potential to become strong contributors to the economy, social cohesion, technological progress and poverty alleviation. The Charter for African Cultural Renaissance is aligned to the Industrial Growth Plan, the National Development Plan, the White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage and the Mzansi Golden Economy Strategy.

PREPARATORY PROCESSES UNDERTAKEN FOR RATIFICATION

The ratification of the Charter by the South African government is a response to Declaration on Cultural Renaissance and Shared Values of the 16th Ordinary Session of the AU Heads of State and Government held in Equatorial Guinea, January 2011 and the launch of the AU Campaign on the Charter which took place in late 2011 in South Africa.

This was followed by South Africa’s signing of the Charter during Africa Day celebrations in May 2012.

The consultations and workshops held in 2011-2013 were wide ranging in raising awareness of the Charter and also for identifying the importance and significance of the Charter for South African arts and cultural life.

Following this, a discussion document, ‘Policy alignment: the Charter for African Cultural Renaissance’ was developed, which revealed a policy strong alignment of the Charter, with substantial knowledge and awareness of the Charter within the Department, in other government Departments and amongst stakeholders in civil society.

A booklet on the Charter was also developed and translated into two other official languages, seTswana and isiZulu, a part of promotion and popularising the Charter.

While challenges remain in the lack of synergy between policies and programmes there were clear indicators of progress. The draft implementation plan addresses those areas which still need alignment.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY The implementation strategy of the Charter has taken

into consideration the following:

Divided the Charter obligations into four imperatives: Economic, Social, Political and Cultural.

Developed a policy alignment document of the Charter with existing policies, programmes and strategies.

Identified gaps and areas of improvement. Proposed to incorporate the identified gaps into the Review of the

White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage. Advocate long-term intervention to ensure the needs of culture

and creative industries are sufficiently accommodated in the National Development Plan and Industrial Policy Action Plan.

Ensure commitment to the implementation of the Charter through implementation forums at national and provincial government spheres.

FOUR IMPERATIVES IMPERATIVES CHARTER OBLIGATIONS

Economic - Support cultural development through incentive measures in fiscal, legislative and administrative plans

- Financial, technical and other forms of assistance to stimulate artistic creation and expression, preferably by the establishment of national funds for the promotion of arts and culture

- Providing fiscal assistance and incentives measures, particularly tax exemption for African cultural goods and services

- Measures for the protection of intellectual property rights related to the expression of cultural diversity

- Enact national and inter-African laws and regulations guaranteeing the protection of copyright and set up national authors’ associations and copyright offices and encourage the establishment of authors’ associations.

Political - Subscribing to and ratifying charters, conventions and other legislative instruments for the preservation and promotion of artistic creation and expression

- Harmonizing national policies and legislation with international charters, conventions and other legislative instruments

- Build the capacity of the AU- Strengthen ties with the African Diaspora worldwide in the areas of culture, education,

science and technology, finance and economy

IMPERATIVES CHARTER OBLIGATIONS

Social - Introduction of African cultural values and the universal principles of human rights in education

- Protect and promote the freedom of artists, intellectuals and men and women of culture- Facilitate access to education and culture for all segments of the population- Guarantee equal access of women and men to cultural expression, decision-making, art

and cultural professions- Recognise cultural expressions by the youth, according them their true value and

responding to their aspirations- Official recognition of elders and traditional leaders- Specialist training for creative artists should be provided in national, sub-regional and

regional training institutions which should be established by Africans- Prepare and implement reforms for the introduction of African languages into the

education curriculum- Extend the use of African languages taking into consideration the requirements of social

cohesion and technological progress- Encourage the use of the information and communication media for their cultural

development and promotion- New information and communication technologies are used to promote African culture

IMPERATIVES CHARTER OBLIGATIONS

Cultural - Ensure that the General History of Africa published by UNESCO constitutes a valid base for teaching the History of Africa and recommend its dissemination, including in African languages

- Creates an enabling environment for cultural innovation and development- Protects and develop tangible and intangible cultural heritage- Build the capacity of the cultural sector and stakeholders through the organization of

festivals, seminars, conferences, training and refresher courses at national, sub-regional, continental and Pan-African level

- Enable the environment to enhance the access and participation of all in culture- Define training policies for artists that guarantee the freedom of artists, creators and

other cultural stakeholders- Promote the establishment of publishing and distribution houses for books, textbooks,

children’s books and audio-visual works, particularly in African languages- Create an enabling environment that will enhance the creation, protection, production

and distribution of cultural works- Develop an appropriate institutional framework with a view to facilitating creativity and

artistic expression- Implement the recommendations regarding the state of heritage in Africa and support

the Fund- Put an end to the pillage and illicit traffic of African cultural property, archives and

intellectual materials and ensure that such cultural property is returned- Create the facilities necessary for the preservation and maintenance of repatriated

materials- Organize cultural events such as festivals, symposia, sporting events and arts exhibitions- Establish cultural research centres and encourage cultural exchange programmes 

POLICY ALIGNMENT OF THE CHARTER

The Policy alignment exercise revealed a strong alignment of the Charter with Industrial Growth Plan, the National Development Plan, the White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage and the Mzansi Golden Economy Strategy.

While challenges remain in the lack of synergy between policies and programmes; lack of appropriate funding and financing strategies and models; limited research institutions, skilled policy makers and centres of excellence as well as the absence of relevant or updated national policies there were clear indicators of progress.

Areas of progress are:- adoption of four complementary strategies: the Mzansi Golden Economy

Strategy, the Social Cohesion Strategy, the National Development Plan and the Industrial Growth Plan.

- current review of the White Paper for Arts and Culture and its revision into a new Cultural Policy for the Department of Arts and Culture.

South Africa has also made substantive progress in recognising the importance of indigenous languages in policy and legislation.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Most of the provisions encapsulated in the Charter are already accommodated in existing policies, strategies and programmes in government as outlined in the policy alignment document. To be fully compliant with the provisions of the Charter those elements of the economic, political, social and cultural imperatives of the Charter that need strengthening of existing efforts or new programmes will be addressed through the following interventions:

Support cultural development through fiscal incentives.Stimulate artistic creation through the articulation of funding into a coherent system. Advocate to provide tax exemption for cultural goods and services.Take a lead on enacting inter-African laws and regulations guaranteeing the protection of copyright.Implement the Social Cohesion Strategy championed by the Department of Arts and Culture.Support existing Pan African Platforms that promote exchange and dialogue.Strengthen ties with the African diaspora. Support an education system to emphasise universal principles of human rights. Develop a national arts development programme for the youth incorporating the resources of all cultural, education and development agencies.

Support existing programmes and new programmes in education and training institutions that provide professional tuition in contemporary and indigenous art forms in all disciplines.Use all forms of media to promote the arts, disseminate information, educate consumer and create arts programming in support of this.Consider developing a language programme to accommodate the adoption of Swahili as a fourth official language in the African Union.Promote the General History of Africa to schools in multiple languages.Build the capacity of the cultural sector and stakeholders.Resource the forums set up to end the pillage and illicit traffic in African cultural property such as the National Forum for the Law Enforcement of Heritage related matters.Develop mechanisms that will ensure archives and other historical records are returned to South Africa.Establish inter-African cultural co-operation. Explore the feasibility of hosting ‘seasons’ with other African countries.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION MECHANISMS

The four imperatives will allow synergy in the cross-cutting policy obligations of the Charter and ensure alignment in a broader sense of development in South Africa.Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism involves the establishment of an interdepartmental Charter Committee in line with identified 4 imperatives and DAC overseeing progress and reporting. The Charter Committee will identify champions from all relevant departments against the implementation of the CharterThe Provincial Workshops will establish provincial forums as follows:

• Charter Committee with Provincial Government and Local Municipalities of the Province

Terms of Reference to guide the Charter Committee and Provincial Forums on the Charter will be developed.It is expected that the Charter Committee deliver annual reports to AU Conference of the Ministers of Culture every two (2) years and a comprehensive report to Cabinet every four years to align with timeframes for MTSF.

NB: The Planned launch - symposium and provincial workshops will further interrogate the above and ensure specifics in terms of who, how and when.

REFERENCE GROUP MEMBERS

The following individuals and institutions were appointed to form a reference group to advise and make inputs in the draft Implementation Strategy of the Charter.

Ms. Monica Newton, (then) CEO of the National Arts Council, their involvement is on the institutional expertise and ensuring their representation in the strategy. NAC is also planning to resuscitate the continental dialogue with other arts councils in the region and continent using the Charter as a guiding document.Prof. Phindile Lukhele-Olorunju, Act CEO of the Africa Institute of South Africa has a good relations with the academic and research institutions in the SA and rest of the continent and diaspora. They are appropriate to create a link between the Charter and research base work. Their expertise will be used to access the academic community in the implementation of the Charter.Mr Tshepo Mashiane, Secretary General of Economic, Social and Cultural Council – South African Chapter (ECOSOCC-SA Chapter) is an institution established under Article 2 and 22 of the AU Constitutive Act. Their involvement will enhance the government engagement with the civil society and creates dialogue and sustainable partnerships to enhance the implementation of the Charter.

DEPARTMENTS DIRECTLY AFFECTED

DEPARTMENTS RELEVANT AREAS

Department of Trade and IndustryCultural Industries, protection IPR and trade opportunities

National Planning CommissionRole of arts and culture in the future of SA economy and society

Dept of Basic EducationArts Education and National Languages in school curriculum

Dept of Higher Education and Training Art Education and Training targeting Humanities

Department of Labour The right and status of artists as labourers

Department of Communications The use of Mass Media

Department of Tourism Heritage sites and museums

Dept. of Science and Technology Indigenous Knowledge Systems and innovationsDept of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Coordination Systems of government

IMPLICATIONS FINANCIAL : There are no financial implications for ratifying the

Charter. However, it is planned that interdept meetings be held with affected departments to develop 5 year plans in line with the MTEF cycle starting in 2014.

CONSTITUTIONAL: The Charter obligations are consisted with the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

VULNERABLE GROUPS are beneficiaries of the implementation strategy of the Charter, especially youth in relation to national arts development programmes, professional training, education and language promotion.

LEGAL : Legal opinion was obtained from DOJ and DIRCO and confirmed that the Charter does not contravene domestic laws and it is in line with international laws.

The process going forward:

Launch and host a symposium on the Charter.Provincial and institutional workshops for implementation.Collaborate with AUC for Social Affairs to campaign for ratification in other regions.Consolidated progress report to the AU Conference of Ministers of Culture to be held in October 2014.

WAY FORWARD

It is recommended that you:

Note the content of the presentation;Consider the draft strategy for implementing the CharterConsider and approve the Charter for ratification in terms of the section 231 (2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Thank you