Honorable Premier Rasool
Provincial Ministers present
Heads of Department present
Arts and cultural practitioners
Esteemed guests, ladies and gentlemen.

The Western Cape government is blessed for having such an eventful week. The historic victory on Sunday of the pop Idols from the province, our own Gift and Karin is still fresh in our minds. They become the first from this province to reach the same finals having upstaged their rivals in a hotly contested elimination process, putting this beautiful province once again on the world map.

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate them for believing in their god-given talents in particular for their fighting spirit. They have really brought this province pride.

Premier Rasool on Monday at the Convention Centre paid tribute to people and government departments that have brought real meaning to the concept of service delivery at Service Excellence Awards function.

Yesterday, FIFA President, Sepp Blatter with Chairman and CEO of Coca Cola, Mr Neville Isdell announced in Cape Town that Coca Cola would become the official sponsor of FIFA World Cup until 2022. The function was graced by the attendance of the entire leadership of 2010 Local Organizing Committee, business and government leaders.

Hours later, SAFA Western Cape bestowed FIFA President, Sepp Blatter with a prestigious honour of Lifetime Achievers Award together with the leadership of South Africa 2010 LOC in Stellenbosch last night. My sincere thanks and appreciation to SAFA for their initiative.
This morning, Premier Rasool acknowledged civil servants with long service history in a fitting function at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. These are the people who have and still will continue to play their part in giving practical meaning to improved service delivery and the creation of a Home for All.

Ladies and gentlemen, I stand here this evening with a deep sense of pride and great appreciation for the Department's resolve to award outstanding achievements in the arts and culture sector, especially for our contribution to this already eventful week.

Through these awards, we are saying your contribution to the cultural landscape really stands out and we are noticing with appreciation. Let me applaud all the nominees for their unwavering commitment in the field of arts and culture.

I want also to acknowledge that many artists, cultural practitioners and performing artists present here this evening, have pursued their careers under trying circumstances.

The Western Cape province is acclaimed for producing some of the finest artists who have really grown artistically to represent the country and province at international events. In the process fame was brought to our shores-thanks to the likes of Adbullah Ebrahim, David Kramer, Victor Ntoni, Vicky Sampson, late Brenda Fassie, Pieter Dirk Uys, the list is endless.

People with disabilities, I am reasonably satisfied that the disabled sector has been recognized for the second year running but I believe we can still do more to promote this sector. It is organizations such Remix Theatre and Global for Disabled people that should be encourage to share their expertise with mainstream organizations so we could expedite the integration exercise for the disabled.

Rural Communities, we are in the process of establishing cultural forums within each local and district municipality to create a better interface between our rural arts and culture constituency and this department.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Western Cape has a vast rural area with great artistic potential that we must still explore. The challenge will be how do we transfer the skills and opportunities from our well-resourced metro areas to our less resourced communities to be able reproduce the David Kramer's and Willy Bester's of tomorrow.

Women - One of the challenges facing the arts and culture sector is the issue of gender transformation. Too many organizations are still being managed and led by men. Even in events companies, women have little or no meaningful role. The challenge for our organizations is the transfer of skills and creation of opportunities for women especially young females. We must ponder the idea of a category that recognizes the struggle women face.

Youth - We need to improve these awards to include a category for emerging young artists. People like Poseletso and recently Gift and Karin are examples of what this province can produce. But this will largely depend on the opportunities we can create and partnerships between civil society and ourselves.

We also recognize the role of cultural institutions to transform the arts and culture environment. The role of Community Arts Project now known as Arts and Media Access Centre have played during the liberation by educating and mobilizing our communities through the arts is being recognized.

My challenge to you, as cultural practitioners, is how do you maximize the economic benefits that accrue from the industry and start to develop skills and create permanent jobs. If the creative industry in India, America and Europe contributed significantly to the economic growth in those countries, I believe you too have a fair contribution to the challenges of our country.

As government we are saying keep up the good work you are doing and continue contributing positively in your communities and importantly continue to strive for nothing else but the best. There's nothing stopping you from exceeding the achievements of the artists I have just mentioned.