Open Call: Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) Grant Funding – South Africa

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.

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 analyze 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.

Grant Streams

• Cultural and Creative Industries Projects (CCIPs)
  • The cultural and creative industries projects workstream supports large and medium-scale national projects 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 workstream are to:
    • To upscale existing projects, allowing increased diversity of cultural offerings, enhanced quality of productions, and extension of project timeframes.
    • To support projects with obvious economic and social benefits 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 CCIPs.
    • To enhance social cohesion in the country by promoting diversity of content and audiences in the specific location of the project.
    • To increase the up-skilling opportunities for creative practitioners and communities.
• Touring Ventures- International Tours
  • The Touring Ventures programme aims to support broader, cost-effective opportunities for the nation’s cultural output to be viewed, participated in and enjoyed within 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 social cohesion in the country by promoting diversity of content and audiences in the specific location of the project.
    • To increase the upskilling opportunities for creative practitioners and communities.
    • To support the national, provincial and local government, cultural institutions, cultural agencies, arts groupings and individual arts practitioners in a reciprocal and sustainable approach to touring.
    • The development of new audiences for existing work development
    • Creating market access through annual programmes aimed at the development and promotion of young artists

Funding Information

• Cultural and Creative Industries Projects (CCIPs)
  • The maximum available grant is R 2 million per grant per beneficiary. The grant amount will be awarded at the discretion of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC).
• Touring Ventures- International Tours
  • The maximum available grant is R 1 million per grant per beneficiary. The grant amount will be awarded at the discretion of the National Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC).

Eligibility Criteria

• This call is open to tax compliant South African Citizens owned and managed arts, culture and heritage organizations and enterprises that have independent legal status i.e. are registered as Non-Profit Organisations or Public Limited Companies.
• 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. Organizations must declare any other involvement with DSAC.
• Only one application per organization/company is allowed.
• Depending on the total budget and the scale of the project preference will be given to projects that are co-financed or part-financed or have any other form of partnership. Proof of such commitment must be provided.

For more information, visit DSAC.