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The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes with concern the poor performance by KwaZulu-Natal’s Department of Arts and Culture this year, with the Department failing to meet its initial benchmark of 50% expenditure of its allocated budget. The figure forms part of the 2020/2021 second quarter budget review.

To date, the DoAC has spent just R300million, which includes a roll-over of around R23million from 2019/2020. This out of a total budget of R800million. The Department has attributed the lack of operations to the Covid-19 lockdown implemented in March 2020 amidst the Corona Virus pandemic.

The DA regards the Department’s use of the pandemic as yet another lame excuse for continually failing to implement the allocated budget for its intended purpose. Not meeting the benchmark has nothing to do with the lockdown instead, it is a case of the Department choosing to blatantly lockdown its own functionality, in turn affecting thousands of people in the province, particularly local artists who relied on funding as a means of an income during the pandemic.

To date, the Department has spent R6.3million on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). This in itself indicates that the Department was operational during lockdown but that it was not functioning properly and therefore failed to fulfil its tasks and ensure that prioritised areas and aspects were taken care of.

The most important aspect neglected, however - and which has been ongoing for several years - is the Department’s failure to fill the many vacant posts that exist. More focus should have been placed on this area and jobs created during the lockdown, particularly given the circumstances that most households found themselves in.

The Department has further blamed a lack of maintenance on delays in MOA’s being signed as well as the purchase of new library books, and non-payment to municipalities and entities on the lockdown. As a result, key organizations such as the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra that rely on funding from the DoAC in order to function were ground to a halt. This is no more than a pathetic excuse which has massively affected the Department’s operations yet, to date, there are no firm plans in place to get these services back on track.

Given the current situation, the DA remains concerned that funding will be misused and mismanaged should the DoAC attempt to fulfil its intended and documented purposes by the end of the financial year. We remain committed to playing our oversight role in this regard. The people of KZN deserve more.

Issued by The DA