FINANCE Minister Pravin Gordhan told representatives of SA’s creative industry yesterday not to rely on the government to bail out the struggling sector, saying the state had less money to spend because of the recession.
Gordhan was speaking at a meeting in Johannesburg to address the concerns of disgruntled musicians, artists, television producers and actors, who feel marginalised and exploited by a legislative environment that has seen musicians in particular robbed of rights to royalties from their songs.
Also present were representatives of the film and documentary industry, which has been hard hit by the SABC’s financial crisis.
President and five ministers, including Gordhan, addressed several hundred artists including John K ani, Lebohang Morake (known as Lebo M), Mandoza and Hugh Masekela.
“When you all talk about support from government ... we need to remember that we are in a recession. By March 31 next year, we will be collecting R70bn less in tax.
“This government has less money to spend,” said Gordhan, and artists needed to balance their expectations of state aid with a determination to help themselves.
Gordhan drew attention to tax provisions that could allow artists to register as small businesses — rather than claim rebates as individuals — or form nongovernmental organisations that qualified for tax breaks. He said the government also provided subsidies for pension funds and retirement annuities.
Zuma urged the artistic community to unite, warning that “working as individuals will not improve your bargaining power”.
“It makes it difficult to work with the sector as there is no single structure that government should work with,” he said.
“It is better to have (an) organised presence so (the sector) is better able to represent its interests.”
Zuma said he was concerned that artists were unaware of laws that covered their industry, saying they should master the regulatory framework surrounding copyright.
The president pointed to initiatives that could resolve some of the problems facing the sector, namely concerns about social security and taxation, insufficient local content, piracy, and the fact that artists are not recognised as workers.
The Department of Labour was conducting research to establish whether artists fall under labour legislation, and if so whether they are receiving the benefits and protection to which they are entitled, said Zuma.
The Department of Communication was working on a strategy to increase local quotas, he said, while the forthcoming Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill would strengthen artists’ rights.
Zuma noted an increase in enforcement actions against music and film piracy, saying that the South African Revenue Service had seized goods worth more than R13m.
“We also want to improve the entrance to the field by emerging writers, particularly from historically disadvantaged backgrounds,” Zuma said. But he warned that the government would not promote “scripts that misrepresent us as the South African people”.
A longer meeting, to be attended by Zuma, is to be scheduled with the sector early next year by Arts and Culture Minister Lulu Xingwana.