Gugu Myeni

Arts and culture is a major contributor in the country's economical growth Minister of Arts and Culture Paul Mashatile said at The New Age Business Briefing on Friday.

"Arts and culture is the soul of the nation, it promotes nation building, and nation healing," Mashatile said addressing delegates at the Business Briefing held at the Grand West Casino in Cape Town.

Minister Mashatile said the improvement of the arts and culture industry is vital in drawing tourists into the country.

 “It is important that adequate funding is injected into developing arts institutions, heritage monuments and the art industry as a whole,” Minister Mashatile said.

Mashatile however raised concerns of the country’s heritage monuments being forgotten.

“Heritage institutions are being neglected and need to be put at centre stage, we need to acknowledge that they are the drivers of economic growth and therefore need adequate funding,” Mashatile said.

Addressing issues that have been raised by musicians and the arts industry as a whole on piracy, Mashatile said it is a problem that needs to be rooted out.

 “We need to support the art industry, piracy is a very big problem; artists need to be paid for their creativity,” Mashatile said.

Mashatile assured the arts industry that major events such as the Jazz festival, Cape Town festival and Mangaung African Cultural Festival(Macufe), will get the support of the government.

Minister of Arts and Culture Paul Mashatile recently opened the 18th MTN South African Music Awards  which was held at Sun City last weekend.

gugum@thenewage.co.za