OPINION: Is SA a creative arts-black hole?

I could not believe what I heard and read over the past weekend. Naledi Pandor said that Africa needs people skilled in science and technology and not in the arts! She has since apologized for her comments as indicated by the ‘face saving’ statement released by her Ministry in response to the expected push back.

Have a look at the report,which surfaced over the past weekend. The Minister said her comments were misunderstood.

Who is Kyle Jantijies?

It reminds me of a recent conversion I had with author, Kyle Jantjies. He is an inspirational young man. An academic, a black belt holder, a self published author, an adventurer, speaker and an educator.

I have spoken to Kyle before to find out more about his life, and how an academic with 7 distinctions ended up in a classroom at his old school. It is a refreshing perspective to hear a young man bursting with energy and enthusiasm for his craft.

All with the aim of pushing his students to develop their talents unashamedly and with confidence!

Kyle reflected upon a recent walk he took from Mitchell’s Plain to Ceres. He shared every challenging step of his journey, and wanted to show his students how goal setting – planning- execution and adapting can all be achieved. Importantly he also said it was critical to hold us accountable to our goals, else they will merely descend into dreams.

I was excited to hear about his journey especially considering the original goal was to walk to Limpopo! A challenge he will pursue in the future he tells me. (Good luck Kyle!)

SA is (unfortunately) not a reading country

When he joined me on THT recently it was to promote his involvment at the inaugural Comic Con. He was one of the guest authors, booked to share more on his genre – Fantasy and Adventure.

According to the stats that Kyle shared with me, it’s alarming that Minister Pandor is so dismissive of the Arts. Unfortunately the data supports her utterance.
SA is not a reading country. The most consumed books are non-fiction. About ninety percent.

Of the remaining balance, Kyle’s genre forms only a percentage of interest. Hardly surprising then that successful SA fiction writers works’ are consumed primarily outside of South Africa.

America, he says, is the exact opposite. They consume more fiction than nonfiction. As a consequence, he says, they are more innovative!

How do we balance that stat in SA?

Kyle suggests that as a starting point, we need to advance a more robust reading culture, especially among children. We must value the importance of imagination and how this contributes towards innovation in our society.

And, given what is available on public platforms, Kyle points out that we now have the ability to create whatever we want too! Or do we prefer to merely consume what others create?

How do you feel about this? No one is disputing the importance of science and technology. It’s a mute point. What value (and competitive edge) are we as humans going to add in an automated world? How do we achieve this without developing our imaginations?