I was recently fortunate enough to attend a performance by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO). As always, I was astounded by the quality of the musicianship, the precision of the conducting and the boundless passion of the CPO’s staff as they work tirelessly to bring the gift of live music to the people of Cape Town and the Western Cape. 

But I fear that future visits to the CPO will be tainted by the knowledge that national Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, has proposed an egregious plan to gut regional orchestras such as this one, and to spend R30-million in the process.

Mthethwa seeks to form a national philharmonic orchestra which will gut the many well-established regional orchestras in the country. Not only will this be a profound waste of public funds at a time when the country can ill afford it, but it will also have catastrophic consequences for South African musicians and conductors.

Many — especially political opponents of my party — will claim that defending an orchestra is an elitist waste of energy when the country is besieged by so many other serious problems. But the CPO represents more than a group of professional musicians.

Youth and development programmes

Through its youth and development programmes, the CPO provides education in music to more than 300 young musicians between the ages of six and 25. The Masidlale (“Let us play”) Grassroots Training Programme teaches underprivileged young people music theory and performance skills, thus equipping them with the ability to enter the music industry should they choose to do so.

The CPO also maintains the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, which gives the province’s young people the chance to play in a professional ensemble, and to gain valuable performance experience.

The CPO also visits schools to develop future audiences. After being postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the CPO resumed these visits, and gave 45 concerts at 15 schools, reaching 16,000 learners in the process.

In short, the CPO is not a group of musicians, but an organisation which leverages its expertise to create a lasting social impact in some of the province’s most vulnerable communities.

One of the greatest tragedies of poverty is the fact that a generation of talented young people is denied the opportunity to reach their potential due to economic challenges. The CPO is actively working against this, and fighting to give the next generation of talented young people the opportunity to become the world-class musicians that they deserve to be. 

But Mthethwa’s proposal would detract from this vital work. In fact, it is nothing more than a vanity project for a minister who seems to have nothing better to do other than riling up the nation with useless projects to boost his ego. 

‘Unaffordable, less effective’

Louis Heyneman, CEO of the Cape Town Philharmonic, has warned that the proposed national orchestra will be unaffordable and less effective than the many regional orchestras which currently exist. I could not agree more. 

In effect, Nathi Mthethwa wishes to spend R30-million on a plan that would compromise a functional organisation to create a useless one.

While I am chairperson of the Western Cape Legislature’s Standing Committee on Cultural Affairs and Sport, I also serve as chairperson of the Standing Committee on Community Safety. In these two roles, I have seen first-hand that culture and sport can be a route out of poverty and crime for young people who might otherwise fall prey to gang recruitment or drugs. A national orchestra will cut funds for existing structures which do this vital work. 

I am incredibly proud of the fact that the CPO receives funding from the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, because this proves that the department is putting its money to good use. Rather than spending tens of millions on useless, ineffective, and harmful projects, the provincial department has put its money towards initiatives which will have maximum impact in the community. 

Like Mthethwa’s proposed R22-million expenditure on a flagpole, this idea should be dropped as quickly as possible, and I will be fighting to accomplish this.

At a time when existing cultural institutions desperately need the government’s support as a result of the pandemic, there can be no question that this project is a terrible idea.

The only question that remains is what unnecessary, expensive and ego-driven proposal the minister will come up with next. DM