Rob Adam
RIGHT TO REPLY
The open letter to Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology Ben Ngubane (“Dear Mr Minister, give us a sign …”, February 23 to March 1) by Artslink employee Mike van Graan involved anattack on Ngubane himself, as well as a range of poorly integrated criticisms of national arts and culture policy and its implementation.
I have met Van Graan on only two occasions that I remember, but on both of those occasions I learned something from him. He has a sharp mind. However, in the phase of governance in which South Africa is engaged one needs more than a sharp mind.
Let me explain.
During the decade preceding 1994 state funding of a range of flagship enterprises (including the arts, the sciences, the Atomic Energy Corporation, subsidies to “border” area farmers and many others) was good.
One intended effect of this largesse was to promote an atmosphere of comfort and normality among an elite, in the face of incipient calamity. The problem is that we are still paying for this irresponsibility interest on debt incurred during this period is still the second largest item after education on the national budget.
So, yes Mike, many artists did have it better in those days, but what would the consequences be if we had all continued on this road, the artists, the farmers, the nuclear technologists?
In 1994 and 1995 we all did policy, whether we were in arts or science or development or telecommunications. You are right, it was a heady time. I enjoyed it immensely in the science and technology sector our development of the concept of a national system of innovation was leading edge.
I also remember those days, but I know I can’t go back there. Really getting things done and making hard decisions in the face of conflicting interests takes more than drinking the champagne of first experience. It takes determination to champion the cause of cultural industries in the government cluster system while fighting rearguard battles with disaffected stakeholders. It takes courage to stick to one’s principles in a hail of allegations and counter-allegations of racism from a deeply factionalised arts community.
This is why I enjoy working with Ngubane. He has a sharp mind but he also has guts. You know that if you are in the trenches with him he won’t climb out and shoot you in the back because his rations have run out.
In the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology we deal with two major portfolios. In the science and technology sector there has also been a decline in the real value of funding to institutions over the past six years. There have been hard words exchanged on this issue, with the government trying to drive reprioritisation by means of instruments such as the innovation fund and the institutions wanting the resources returned to their baselines. But in the heat of this, a top-quality brand of research manager has emerged. Khotso Mokhele of the National Research Foundation and William Makgoba of the Medical Research Council have achieved wonders in establishing sustainable large-scale local public-private partnerships and in leveraging win-win international cooperation.
The rand value of these initiatives is now close to overshadowing the state contribution to their budgets. Mokhele and Makgoba are not cargo-cultists waiting for “a sign” from the minister. They are guys who roll up their sleeves and deal with their lives as they find them. We are not out of the woods yet in science and technology, but we are on a trajectory which I know will take us out because of the stable partnership between the government and the new South African research managers. The challenge we face, with all our stakeholders, is to produce and to attract the Mokhele and the Makgoba equivalents to arts and culture.
Mike, these are some of the real issues for arts and culture. Cheap innuendo about the numbers of staff appointed in the department over the past year doesn’t hack it. In fact there is a fairly normal turnover rate of about 10% a year and we need to replace those who leave. A cursory appraisal of our budget (didn’t you have the time?) will tell you that the staff component has not ballooned.
Show us a sign, Mike, that you have the guts to go the distance. It takes more than smart aphorisms to make things work. Sometimes you’ll get outvoted, sometimes hard work you’ve done will get sidelined, sometimes you’ll get insulted. All these things have happened to me on numerous occasions over the past six years and yet I’m still here. Let’s see whether you can get beyond those heady Arts and Culture Task Group days, beyond falling on your sword over points which are not going to deflect the world from its course. Come back and lend a hand.
Dr Rob Adam is director general of the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology