REFILWE MEKOA
Free State Finance MEC Elzabe Rockman emphasised that they will to keep on financing the Mangaung Cultural Festival no matter what anybody says.
She said it was a commitment of the provincial government towards the arts and culture sector. Rockman added that Macufe 2014 received R46 million and explained that R36 million was from the 2014/15 adjustment budget plus the R10 million that was allocated from the original budget. She was delivering her presentation of the adjustment budget to the provincial legislature on Thursday in Bloemfontein.
Rockman believed that South Africa underestimated the potential of the cultural economy and emphasised that Macufe was a prominent brand in the country.
“Macufe has two branches. It has the commercial side in which we generate income through ticket sales and so on and has a developmental side, which we will fund. We need to bring Macufe back to the main budget of the province. This thing of making only a token amount available in main appropriation budget and then come and supplement the funding towards the adjustment budget is not the best way for us. We need to agree on a budget upfront,” she said.
Rockman’s HOD Godfrey Mahlatsi mentioned that revenue that was generated from Macufe this year amounted to R16 million. He said R9 million was received from a sponsorship and R6 million was collected from various stakeholders.
Meanwhile, Freedom Front Plus’s Wouter Wessels said the fact that an additional R36,5 million is allocated to the department of sport, arts, culture and recreation for the 2014 Macufe Festival that has already taken place, is proof that the government is not serious about the financial crisis or its turnaround strategy.
