Pretoria - The Department of Arts and Culture will host a public hearing this weekend to discuss the revision of the 1996 White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage.
The department will host the public hearing in Bloemfontein as it criss-crosses the country to get inputs from representatives in the arts, culture and heritage sector.
Public hearings have already been held in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban.
The White Paper has provided the key policy framework for the department and the sector for 19 years.
“It has been a seminal document for the transformation and repositioning of the arts, culture and heritage sector broadly in the economic development. The policy has also contributed immensely in the promotion, protection and preservation of the sector including engendering social cohesion and nation building,” the department said.
The department said while the policy framework has achieved many of the objectives envisaged, new developments in the sector and in the country at large have necessitated its review.
The review represents an effort to ensure that government policies respond effectively to the needs of the people.
The contributions from the public hearings will form part of wide sector two-day indaba scheduled to take place in November. The resolutions will be presented to Parliament early next year. – SAnews.gov.za
