Covid-19: Gauteng committee calls for more relief support for entertainment sector

The Gauteng Provincial Legislature Portfolio Committee on Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture (SRAC), led by the chairperson William Matsheke, held a virtual meeting with the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation as part of its oversight mandate during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The committee requested the department to brief it on the relief support it is providing to its sectors and the Gauteng film industry.

The industry has been the hardest hit during this global pandemic and the committee called on the department to reprioritise its allocated budget to support the sector.

The department indicated during their presentation by MEC Mbali Hlophe and her senior officials, that the department had proposed the establishment of the Gauteng Provincial Relief Fund for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, as well as the film industry.

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The department indicated that the proposal did not receive the support of the Gauteng Exco, however, the Exco informed the department that the SMME Relief Fund managed by the Department of Economic Development (DED) through the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller should assist their sectors.

The proposed SMME Relief Fund will support registered SMME businesses established in Gauteng which have been in operation for at least two years.

It is against this background that the committee called on the Gauteng Provincial Government to reconsider the proposal as submitted by the Gauteng Department of Sport Arts, Culture and Recreation to establish its own relief fund.

The relief fund would seek to support its sectors as the requirements set by the SMME Relief Fund do not respond to the individual needs of the entertainment sector.

Many of those in the SRAC sector do not belong to SMMEs but rather to organised federations or clubs not classified as SMMEs.

There are others who ply their trade as individuals.

The committee believes that the creation of an independent Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation Relief Fund will respond to the needs of all sectors as outlined by the department.

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