Themba P. Wakashe

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• Themba P. Wakashe
• Director-General
• Department of Arts and Culture

Presentation on Social Cohesion PORTFOLIO
COMMITTEE 26 MAY 2010
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Purpose
• Vision of the Department
• A working definition of Social Cohesion
• Factors militating against Social Cohesion
• DACs Strategic Interventions and Programmes
  
• Conclusion

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1. PURPOSE
The purpose of the presentation is to brief the
Portfolio Committee on DACs activities on Social
Cohesion
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2. VISION OF THE DEPARTMENT
To develop and preserve South African culture to
ensure Social Cohesion and Nation Building
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3. A WORKING DEFINITION OF SOCIAL COHESION

• Social cohesion refers to those factors that
  have an impact on the ability of a society to be
  united for the attainment of a common goal. It is
  the extent to which members of a society respond
  collectively in pursuit of these shared goals and
  how they deal with the political, socio-economic
  and environmental challenges that are facing
  them.

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4. FACTORS MILITATING AGAINST SOCIAL COHESION

• The following are some of the factors impeding
  the building of a cohesive
• Society
• Racial, Cultural, Political, Religious, Class,
  Gender as well as age differences
• In the South African context, these are
  exacerbated by our divided past fraught with
  social and economic inequities
• The complex nature of these factors necessitate a
  collaborative or cluster approach to the
  attainment of Social Cohesion
• Strategic interventions that are discussed in the
  following slides are those that are mainly driven
  by the DAC

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5. DACs STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS AND PROGRAMMES

• 5.1. Social Cohesion Colloquium
• The colloquium was organised to start the
  national dialogue on social cohesion.
• It was successfully held in October 2009 as a
  build up towards the national Social
• Cohesion conference to be held in 2010.
• Some of the recommendations that emerged from the
  colloquium are as follows
• Mobilisation campaigns to be rolled-out in all
  the provinces
• Promotion of social cohesion to be integrated in
  the work of all government departments

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5. DACs STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS AND PROGRAMMES

• 5.1. Social Cohesion Colloquium (Cont )
• The concept of Ubuntu must be promoted amongst
  all South African citizens
• All structures of the civil society must be
  involved in the promotion of Social Cohesion
• More dialogues on issues that are hindering
  Social Cohesion such as Xenophobia, Racism,
  Social inequities should be facilitated
• Government should improve its communication
  channels.

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5. DACs STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS AND PROGRAMMES

• 5.2. National Conference on Social Cohesion
• Consultative meetings post the colloquium were
  held with various NGOs
• Discussions are underway with stakeholders for
  the preparation of the National Social Cohesion
  Conference planned to take place in 2010
• The mobilisation campaigns will take place in
  provinces and will address issues
• of nation building and values

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5. DACs STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS AND PROGRAMMES

• 5.3 Popularization of national symbols
• 5.3 Popularisation of National Symbols
• Several outreach projects, workshops, exhibitions
  and the development of
• informative publications on national symbols to
  increase levels of
• understanding and appreciation of national
  symbols have been undertaken.
• These include among others
• Fly the flag campaign
• Flag in every school
• Flag in every taxi
• Flag in every car
• The correct singing of the National Anthem and
  internalisation of the etiquette thereof

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5. DACs STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS AND PROGRAMMES

• 5.4. Commemorations and Celebrations of National
  Days
• New approach of commemorating and celebrating
  these has been introduced
• It attempts to bring all communities together
• The idea has been tested during Human Rights Day
  and Freedom Day where all political parties
  represented in Parliament were invited to
  participate
• Participation took the form of giving messages of
  support
• This could help develop new consciousness amongst
  the South African Citizens that despite political
  differences, there are things that unite us.

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5. DACs STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS AND PROGRAMMES

• 5.5. Festivals, Theatrical Productions and
  Exhibitions
• Our festivals reflect cultural diversity by
  ensuring participation of artist from different
  cultures (Gcwala Ngamasiko, Grahamstown
  Festivals)
• Our theatres host productions that represent
  non-racialism and multicultural beliefs and
  practices
• - current revitalisation of Windybrow
  Theatre is an attempt to address the challenges
  of Xenophobia which are a threat to social
  cohesion
• - Kalushi (Solomon Mahlangu, Rivonia
  Trial)
• Exhibitions portray rich and diverse histories of
  our communities

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5. DACs STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS AND PROGRAMMES

• 5.6. New Commemorative structures
• New museums, memorials and monuments depict
  history and heritage of people from different
  population groups (The Wall of Names at Freedom
  Park is a case in point)

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CONCLUSION

• The DAC acknowledges the magnitude of the task of
  building a cohesive society and a caring nation
• As the DAC implements this programme, it will
  continue to explore ways of deepening and
  consolidating social cohesion campaigns
• The DAC will also monitor and evaluate the
  outcomes

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ThankYou