Call for proposals: Government funding for the arts in SA

The purpose of MGE is to make strategic investments to optimise the economic benefit of the arts in South Africa.

The MGE programme will fund the following work streams:

Cultural events

The cultural events work stream supports large and small scale local, regional and national events that promote the arts, culture and heritage and that contribute to local economic development, job creation and the development of audiences.

The specific objectives of the work stream are to:

• To upscale existing events and festivals allowing increased diversity of cultural offerings, enhanced quality of productions, extension of event time frames.
• To support projects with obvious economic and social benefit for the location.
• To increase the audience and exposure that each production receives, which will in turn increase the number of jobs created, livelihoods supported and income generated through the events.
• To enhance the social cohesion in the country by promoting diversity of content and audiences in the specific location of the project.
• To increase upskilling opportunities for creative practitioners and communities.

Public art 

The aim of the grant funding is to enable the creative arts sector to stabilise and consolidate, providing access to work and experience, build capacity, transfer skills and create linkages to support infrastructure, enhance quality of life, and support heritage and tourism.

The aim of the work stream is to:

• Showcase creativity in public spaces, either on a permanent or temporary basis.
• Advocate for and change perceptions of the arts at all levels.
• Promote participation in and enjoyment of the arts at community level.
• Promote long-term partnerships (through co-financing models).
• Reduce dependency on the government’s financial assistance and encourage the development of a sustainable arts, culture and heritage sector.
• Encourage the inclusion of cultural matters in urban planning frameworks and in planning processes through accountability to communities and stakeholders.
• Stimulate local economic activities that contribute to local and regional economies.

Touring ventures

The touring ventures programme aims to support broader, cost-effective opportunities for the nation’s cultural output to be viewed, consumed and enjoyed in South Africa and abroad.

The objectives are:

• To increase the audience and exposure that each production receives, which will in turn increase jobs created, livelihoods supported and income generated through the events.
• To enhance the social cohesion in the country by promoting diversity of content and audiences in the specific location of the project.
• To increase upskilling opportunities for creative practitioners and communities.
• To support the national, provincial and local government, cultural institutions, cultural agencies, art groups and individual arts practitioners in a reciprocal and sustainable approach to touring.
• The creation of new audiences to develop existing work.
• Creating market access through annual programmes aimed at the development and promotion of young artists.

Support will be provided to projects or programmes that are to be implemented from September 2021 to March 2022.

The call will run from 1 to 25 June. The result of the adjudication will be published no later than 60 working days after the closing date.

All applications must be submitted through the MGE online portal.

The applicant must have:

• Accessed the e-services portal.
• A valid email address.
• A valid South African ID.
• A valid cellphone number.

E-services registration and log-in processes

An applicant must register on the e-services portal. Once registered, the applicant will receive a one-time pin (OTP) to their cellphone number in order to verify the user. If the applicant has an existing profile, he or she must log in to the portal with existing credentials. Once logged in, the applicant can access the DSAC MGE Grant Management System, which is listed under the e-services menu.

Attachments required for applications

Private/public companies

• Copy of valid South African ID.
• SARS tax clearance certificate.
• Proposal with budget breakdown.
• Company registration certificate.
• Invitation letter for touring ventures applications.

Non-profit organisation (NGOs, trusts)

• SARS tax clearance certificate.
• Proposal with budget breakdown.
• Copy of South African ID.
• NPO registration certificate.
• Invitation letter for touring ventures applications.

Individual application

• Copy of South African ID.
• SARS tax clearance certificate.
• Proposal with budget breakdown.
• Invitation letter for touring venture applications.

Eligibility

• This call is open to all tax compliant South African arts, culture and heritage organisations and enterprises that have independent legal status – i.e. are registered as a non-profit company, a public limited company.
• Compliant eligible South African citizens: individual artists who are legally able to enter into contractual relations may also apply.
• No beneficiary will be awarded two DSAC grants simultaneously, regardless of the size of the grant sourced from any DSAC programme in any given year. Organisations must declare any other involvement with the DSAC.
• Only one application per organisation/company/individual in one financial year is allowed.
• Preference will be given to projects that are co-financed, part-financed or have any other form of partnerships depending on the total budget and the scale of the project. Proof of such commitment must be provided.

Rules

• The SA ID number must be a 13-digit number and must be validated using the following format: {YYMMDD}{G}{SSS}{C}{A}{Z}.
• Ensure all mandatory fields have been completed.
• For all date fields, display a calendar.
• Email addresses must contain an ‘@’ character.
• There must be at least three attachments for individual applicants and four attachments for company applications.
• If the applicant is required to submit additional information by the administrator, he/she will only have five business working days to action the request on the system. If not done, the system will terminate the application, which will need to be repeated.
• Reference number to be created once the user has submitted their application.
• The reference number will be auto-generated according to the chosen programme type (e.g. Cult001, Pub001 or Tou001).
• The applicant must only update the application if the status is ‘Submitted’.
• The applicant must only withdraw the application if the status is ‘Submitted’.
• The system autosaves the application when the applicant clicks on the next button.

View the original call here.