The Economic Mapping of the Cultural and Creative Industries in SA 2022

Overview

In addition to the important social and cultural values that cultural and creative activities contribute to the identity and wellbeing of South Africans, the contribution of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) to economic growth, employment, and international trade has also been increasingly acknowledged.

In South Africa, this occurred through the “Mzansi’s Golden Economy” initiative, under which the South African Cultural Observatory (SACO) was founded.

In its 2019 presentation to Cabinet on South Africa’s Re-imagined Industrial Strategy, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) pointed to the potential the CCIs have for, inter alia, employment creation, skills development, promoting social cohesion, raising the country’s profile abroad and supporting the domestic tourism industry (the dtic, 2019). Prioritisation of the CCI sector as one of seven focus areas in the country’s revised industrial policy1 is intended to address the challenges and constraints that need to be overcome to allow the sector to reach its full potential. The development of Master Plans for each priority sector aims to promote a collaborative approach among all stakeholders to address the needs of that sector in its entirety.

One of the flagship products of the SACO has been the mapping of the CCIs on a national level (SACO, 2018; 2020). SACO is a national research project of the Departments of Sport, Arts and Culture, established in 2015. While not themselves policy documents, mapping studies aim to provide reliable, policy and sector relevant information about the economic value of the CCIs in South Africa that can be used to inform sector development and policy.

A focus of the previous mapping study (presenting data up to 2018) was on the contribution of the CCIs to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, reporting through the “Thematic Indicators for Culture” released in 2019. While this remains an important part of the report, a new focus is on the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the CCIs, both internationally and in South Africa. Reasons for the particularly negative impact of the pandemic on the CCIs include the project-based production mode in many parts of the sector, the prevalence of in-person operation, and the higher levels of freelance and informal occupations. By tracking the impact of the pandemic and the start of the recovery as lockdown restrictions eased, the 2022 mapping study aims to provide information that can be used to design effective support interventions and adaptation strategies.

This “Capstone” report brings together the main findings and implications of the 2022 CCI Mapping Study. The data presented is based on the extensive and detailed research contained in each chapter of the mapping study, which gives more detail on the technical methods and data used, the international context, and detailed data analysis to draw up a national picture of the creative economy in South Africa. The chapters are listed below and are available for download on the SACO website.

Chapter 1: The Macroeconomic Impact of the CCIs in South Africa
Chapter 2: Cultural Employment and Transformation
Chapter 3: International Trade in Cultural Goods and Services
Chapter 4: Provincial Profiles
Chapter 5: The South African Creative Economy in Historical Context