MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON ARTS AND CULTURE
30 May
2006
14:00-17:00
AGENDA
1. Discussing
a Business plan in line with the Committee’s Budget for 2006/07
2. Discussing
the programme of the Committee for May –June 2006
3. Consideration
and adoption of the Budget Vote process – Budget Hearings;
4. Adoption
of minute
5. Announcements/
Invitations
African
National Congress
Mr.
KK Khumalo
Mr. P Maluleke
Ms ND Mbombo
Ms DM Ramodibe
Mr. MR Sonto
Prince BZ Zulu
Ms P Tshwete
Democratic Alliance
Mrs. D Van der Walt
The Acting
Chairperson welcomed members and allowed the Association of Professionals
Orchestras representative Mr. Bokaba to brief the Committee.
Mr. Bokaba
pleaded with the Committee to solicit funding from the Department of Arts and
Culture (DAC) for the JPO. He mentioned that the Johannesburg Philemonic
orchestra is not fully funded by the DAC although Cape Philharmonic and KZN
receive R3, 77 million each from the DAC.
The JPO was also informed that a similar amount was allocated to JPO and
later diverted to Abdullar Ebrahim’s jazz Orchestra.
The JPO is
owned by the Musicians. The JPO work closely which SAMET that was founded to
provide music education to children in disadvantaged areas. It has been funded largely by the private
sector. Due to financial constraints the JPO is not a permanent city orchestra.
On his closing note Mr. Bokaba highlighted that the orchestra only operate five
seasons, if they can be fully funded they can operate full time to meet the
demand.
Members
asked the JPO whether they received funding from the DAC directly and how much
did they receive. It was noted that only few provinces were mentioned in the
presentation, and members wanted to know why other provinces were not mentioned
for the Performer Development Initiative project. The presenter was also asked
to inform the Committee where he heard about the diversion of funds, whether
this was communicated to the JPO officially. Members also asked if there was a
policy on funding orchestras.
Mr.
Bokaba responded that the JPO has to apply for funding through the National
Arts Council and they had applied for R4 million but received only R30
000. The reasons they were given was
that the NAC is operating on a limited budget. The KZN is not the Section 21
Company.
In
responding to the diversion he mentioned that he was informed by a contact within
the NAC and DAC.
Mr.
Bokaba was not sure about the policy for funding Orchestras. He further explained that by sharing he
meant the sharing of resources to strengthen the orchestras.
He
further mentioned that most orchestras were closed in 2000 and the JPO
regrouped together as they were retrenched. The KZN did not close at all and
the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra closed and soon reopened.
The
Committee thanked the presenter and asked if the Committee could be provided
with a Budget analysis and financial statement
In order to fast
track transformation and redress past imbalances, the State Theatre has
conceived development, advancement and empowerment programmes, entitled 52
Seasons and Residency Program. The 52 projects were officially launched in 2002.
During this period 52 artistic works were performed in the Momentum Theatre.
The works were selected from seven provinces of the country. Each production
was given two weeks of development.
Mr. Sekobi
mentioned that the DAC is only funding the operations of the theatre. The State
Theatre received R2.3 million from National Lottery to rebrand the theatre.
They felt that by doing the rebranding it would be inclusive of all the people
and they must know that it’s their own theatre.
He further
explained that the aim of the theatre is to showcase diverse and quality
programmes; developing and creating space for emerging artists, producers,
audiences and technicians; developing new content; maintaining technical
excellence and offering a safe and fulfilling experience.
The CFO
explained the unqualified audit report with 4 matters of emphasis that have
been corrected.
Questions and comments
The Members
wanted to know how many board members do they have and how are they
remunerated. They also expressed concern about the amount paid for the auditors
and the availability of the audit report as well as the financial statement of
the Auditor-General. Members wanted to know how the State Theatre is going to
cover the deficit spending.
It was mentioned
that some people who were operating from the State Theatre were complaining
about the shabby places allocated to them.
Responses
The interest the
State Theatre received is from a fixed deposit at ABSA Bank. They responded
that they have eight official Board Members and hold three meetings every year,
which are paid for by the theatre.
3.
Adoption of the budget Hearings
Members
requested to be given enough time to look at the report and forward their
amendments to the Secretary to effect change.
4. Minutes
Minutes of
the meeting were adopted with changes.
The
Chairperson thanked members and the meeting adjourned at 16:40
The next
meeting is scheduled for 06 June 2006.