The Msunduzi / Voortrekker Museum performance and plans

The Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG) reports that the Msunduzi/Voortrekker Museum briefed the Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture on its perforance and plans.

Summary:
The Msunduzi/Voortrekker Museum briefed the Committee on the annual performance for 2009.10, and its strategic plans. This Museum aimed to actively preserve, promote and present South African cultural heritage to benefit nation building and social upliftment. There were inherent funding shortages, and in the past year the museum had to use a portion of its reserve fund for the increase in salaries, although this was still below other government entities. It had requested the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) for additional funding. It pointed out that it would not be sustainable to have to dip into reserves again. The Museum had complied with its obligations in terms of reporting and had achieved another unqualified audit. The staffing structure was outlined, and it was noted that although the Museum focused primarily on research around KwaZulu Natal, it was also collecting artefacts from elsewhere, and its research was fairly broad, with specific topics being described. Special exhibitions for centenaries and other historic days were mounted, and the Museum held educational programmes, reaching more than 11 000 learners in this year, and geared its training to the national curriculum, as well as holding annual debates around history.

Members asked questions about the community outreach, which schools were targeted, the effectiveness of the marketing, whether there was involvement of other stakeholders, especially local government, and pointed out that joint efforts could help to save money. They were concerned to get a breakdown of the staff, and questioned the numbers, the race and gender, and whether there was specific focus on the youth, both in terms of employment and staff training. They suggested that the staff should attend more conferences and study tours inside South Africa than internationally. They enquired about the sources of income, whether there were plans to raise these, how the budget would be balanced, and what could be done to address the high audit fees and the costs associated with running such a large council. The Committee asked that the Museum should submit and explain its strategic plans in more depth on another occasion.

To read the full minutes of the meeting, listen to an audio recording, or to view the presentation, see the PMG website

Source: Parliamentary Monitoring Group website

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