Review-Evaluation of the Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) Program

Overview

The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture’s (DSAC) Mzansi’s Golden Economy (MGE) strategy, implemented from 2011, provides funding and support to a range of arts, culture and heritage initiatives. An overall goal of the MGE was for the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) to contribute to the creation of 5 million jobs in South Africa within 10 years from its initial implementation, that is, 2011 to 2021 (DSAC, 2022). This research undertakes a review of all MGE work streams since the inception of the strategy in 2011.

A mixed methods approach is adopted, integrating a desktop study, documentary analysis of 43 Flagships (including the 9 national Flagships), 8 Artists in Schools, 94 Cultural Events, 22 Public Art, and 108 Touring Ventures where documents were available from 2016, and two focus group discussions with DSAC officials and key stakeholders involved in the MGE implementation and Master Plan development. Additionally, reports from previous evaluations are integrated together with a broader desktop study on public funding of CCIs.

The desktop study underscores the importance of the CCIs. It is evident that the CCIs contribute to sustainable and inclusive development, specifically in relation to job creation, economic growth, and social cohesion and nation-building. This sector also has untapped potential. Still, the reliance on public funding emerges as a key concern linked to crowding-out effects. A range of funding sources/ approaches are in place that include public funding (mainly national government and government entities), private sector/ corporate funding (including venture capital), private donations/ crowd funding, international donor funding, collaborative funding (pooling of resources from different sources), self-funding and earned income.

The results from the documentary analysis show substantial differences in funding amounts, with Flagships receiving the highest and Touring Ventures and Cultural Events receiving the least on average; in terms of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) cultural domains, there is dominance in the performance and celebration domain, followed by visual arts and crafts, mainly in the Public Art category. The Gauteng Province hosted most events/ activities, followed by KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, with an urban dominance in public funding.

In relation to the objectives and perceived impacts aligned with the MGE strategy, the main aspects identified were cultural/ arts awareness, job creation, training/ capacity development, social cohesion/ nation-building, audience development and education. There was limited information on marketing/ media presence. Regarding employment, stallholders, service providers and attendance figures, these were lacking and, where available, poor data quality. The website assessment revealed that very few events/ activities had active websites, and among those that did, most did not indicate that DSAC was a sponsor/ funder or made reference to the MGE strategy. The key challenges identified were financial (including the release of funding by DSAC), the limited number of sponsorships/ partnerships (dominant reliance on public sources and multiple government funding sources in some instances that may be associated with double-dipping), logistics/ event management, delays and poor attendance.

The policy review indicates that there are several policies, procedures and processes that are in place. However, gaps were identified that included monitoring and evaluation as well as data limitations/ challenges. There is category confusion and a lack of clear definitional criteria for specific MGE categories. Non-compliance issues and inconsistencies were also noted.

Policy recommendations are proposed that include: (1) funding categories could be reorganized by the amount of funding received instead of by the type of event to facilitate more effective administration and monitoring and evaluation; (2) refinement of the DSAC Guidelines and Forms be implemented; (3) a database is created that includes all funding distributed to the cultural sector, both directly by DSAC entities and indirectly by other government departments, tiers of government, and government agencies; (4) there is a focus on building capacity among recipients in regions that receive less funding and increasing the promotion of the MGE strategy in these areas; and (5) there is a push for a Funding Indaba to discuss issues, trends, new approaches and the greater questions of direction and sustainability.

Other key recommendations included: (1) improved knowledge and data management that focused on the implementation of an online data management system that can centralize all pertinent documents, including applications, review processes, contracts, and close-out reports, which should be explored (mechanism for hard copy submissions for those who cannot complete online submissions); (2) post-support monitoring to evaluate the longer-term impacts of MGE support; (3) verification and compliance protocols, as well as mechanisms for accountability, should be established for both DSAC officials and beneficiaries; (4) the development of dashboard reporting, real-time monitoring, Key Performance Indicator tracking or visual analytics approaches; and (5) verification of reports since self-reported data is inadequate and lacks the reliability and credibility required to inform decisions. Training and capacity development was also identified as a key recommendation.

A funding framework is proposed, which includes integrating approaches that include the different types of funding, with a focus on government funding, specifically General Open Calls, Targeted Calls, Strategic funding and Organizational funding. Non-government funding for the CCIs should be strengthened and supported by the MGE strategy. The use of the ecosystem resiliency funding model to fund a diverse and complex sector was proposed to identify the needs and opportunities of the sector, define the funding priorities, identify funding sources, develop funding mechanisms, establish evaluation and monitoring processes, foster collaboration and partnerships, and continuously review and adapt the framework.

Funding models and the MGE strategy programs must be sensitive to the diversity in the CCIs to ensure that different genres are supported. Responsiveness to changing funding environments is also needed.