Department Sport, Arts and Culture

SECTION A

Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE)

Overview

The Department Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) has embarked on a strategy to reposition the arts, culture and heritage sector as key players in government’s programme of action for social cohesion, creation of sustainable jobs and ensuring social and economic development. To this end the Department convened a consultative conference on 14 and 15 April 2011 for arts, culture and heritage sector stakeholders to deliberate on various proposals to optimize the contribution of these sectors to these priorities and specifically to the New Growth Path.

Prior to the conference there was a review of development efforts to date, accompanied by consultations with key role players. The review and consultations were used to generate a high level problem statement, develop a strategy and make specific proposals, including new large scale interventions focusing on the creative and cultural industries. The Mzansi Golden Economy Strategy (MGE) was the outcome of these processes.

The strategy considers the arts, culture and heritage sector as the “new gold” which has the potential to increase economic growth and create jobs in South Africa (Business and Arts South Africa, 2012). The DSAC has thus implemented MGE, which aims to enhance economic development and social cohesion for the country.

The purpose of MGE is to make strategic investments to optimize the economic benefit of the arts in South Africa. By improving investment in key areas of the creative economy, it is anticipated that job creation and productivity will be enhanced, and the sector’s global competitiveness will be increased.

The envisioned overall impact of the MGE strategy on the creative economy is;

To position the arts as a valuable contributor to economic growth and job creation
To stimulate economic development
To promote sustainability
To raise the profile of South Africa as a destination for cultural consumers and increasing tourism (visitor) volume and spend
To build the professional capacity of the sector
To improve the production and dissemination of local content

1.1 Objectives

The MGE objectives are:

Stimulate Demand: the result will be the expansion of supply and work opportunities. The focus areas within this programme will consist of the Public Art Programme, Cultural Events, the Art Bank, and the Sourcing Enterprise.
Audience Development and Consumption: Building on existing initiatives, the aim of this programme is to elevate projects into large scale national programme to develop audiences for the creative and cultural industries and increase consumption of the offerings of the arts, culture and heritage sector.
Building Heritage Resources: Development of areas of heritage to change the colonial and apartheid bias of heritage exhibition and interpretation in the country. The three focus areas are Heritage Projects, the National Liberation Heritage Route and the Marine Heritage.
Information Gathering: To collect evidence and analyse the performance of the arts, culture and heritage sector to inform policy shifts and guide future resource allocation.
Human Capital Development: Focusing on the early identification and development of talent and influencing choice of career path. The focus areas include the Arts Education and National Cultural Industries Skills Academy.
Developing cultural entrepreneurs: Focusing on the identification and development of the skills, products and services of the cultural entrepreneurs and the development of sustainable enterprises in the creative industries.

Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) Open Call

The increased knowledge and understanding of the role that culture and creativity can play in economic development necessitates a more diversified approach to funding cultural and creative sectors with a greater emphasis placed on economic returns to government expenditure.
The 2025/26 Open call will support Cultural and Creative Industries Projects (CCIPs) and Touring Ventures.
The MGE open call is a competitive grant funding.

DSAC announces a request for proposals based on the current needs and emerging challenges of the arts, culture and heritage sector.
Funding is based on the merits of the submitted application.
Applications are reviewed for eligibility and completeness.
No applicant is automatically entitled to funding.
Financial support is designated for the financial year 2026/27.

Support will be provided to projects/programmes that are to be implemented from May 2026 to February 2027.
The Open Call will run from 05 December 2025 at 12h00 to 30 January 2026 at 17h00.
The result of the adjudication will be published prior to the commencement of the 2026/27 financial year.