Mapping the spatial distribution of government funding FINAL

Overview

One of the principles of sustainable development is the equitable distribution of public resources. In South Africa, this is linked to balanced regional development, that is:

• Distribution of funding across all nine provinces,
• Funding in rural areas and small towns, as well as metropolitan areas,
• Within cities, a balance between funding cultural activities in formerly white central business districts (CBDs) and townships.

Given the multicultural nature of South Africa, the distribution of funding is also linked to cultural diversity, and issues of social cohesion.
It is well documented (Lazzeretti et al, 2010; Flew, 2010) that the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) tend to cluster around cities. One would therefore expect funding to also follow this trend to some extent.

The South African Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) funds a wide variety of arts, culture and heritage initiatives under the Mzansi’s Golden Economy (MGE) programme. MGE objectives are:

• To stimulate demand in arts and culture
• Audience development and consumption
• Building heritage resources
• Information gathering
• Human capital development
• Developing cultural entrepreneurs
  (Mzansi’s Golden Economy (MGE) Guidelines: Criteria, Eligibility, Processes & Systems 2015/2016 – 2016/2017 version 1.0).

Eligible projects are divided into five main categories:

• Cultural Events: National and Provincial Flagship Events and Festivals
• Festivals and Events
• Touring Ventures & Market Access
• Public Art Programme
• Miscellaneous and Community Arts Projects

The aim of this report is to examine the spatial distribution of MGE funded cultural events, festivals and projects over the last three years, with a view to making policy suggestions related to equitable geographic spread in terms of provinces, rural and urban areas, and metropolitan areas.