ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN MATTERS

What the Cultural and Creative Industries Cannot Afford to Ignore

In government, nothing of consequence happens by accident. Budgets are not spent randomly. Programmes are not implemented on goodwill. Priorities are not acted on because they “sound important”.

They happen because they are written into one document: the Annual Performance Plan (APP).

For too long, practitioners in the Cultural and Creative Industries have focused their energy on applications, protests, petitions, and social media outrage — while ignoring the one instrument that quietly determines whether their work will be funded, supported, monitored, or ignored for an entire financial year.

If arts and culture are not in the APP, they are not a priority. Full stop.

What Is an Annual Performance Plan (APP)?

An Annual Performance Plan is a legally binding planning document produced by every government department and public entity. It translates:

• Government policy

• Medium-Term Strategic Frameworks

• Five-year Strategic Plans

into measurable commitments for a specific financial year.

In simple terms, the APP answers three critical questions:

1. What will the department do this year?

2. How will it do it?

3. How will success or failure be measured?

If a programme, project, or sector priority does not appear in the APP, it:

• Will not be budgeted for properly

• Will not be monitored

• Will not be accounted for

• Will not be protected when cuts happen

Why Practitioners Must Understand the APP

Many practitioners complain — often correctly — that:

• Funding is inconsistent

• Programmes are cancelled

• Promises are not kept

• Priorities shift with every new Minister or official

But the uncomfortable truth is this: most practitioners do not read the APP.

When the Cultural and Creative Industries are excluded from an APP, it means:

• There are no performance indicators tied to the sector

• Officials are not measured on delivery to artists

• Parliamentary oversight is weakened

• Funding becomes discretionary rather than strategic

Understanding the APP allows practitioners to move from emotional engagement to strategic pressure.

What It Means When the Sector Is Missing from the APP

When arts and culture priorities are not reflected in an APP, it signals several dangers:

• The sector becomes invisible in planning cycles

• Funding becomes ad hoc, not structural

• Community arts, training, and development are treated as optional

• Officials cannot be held accountable for non-delivery

It also means that when Parliament asks, “Why wasn’t this done?” the department can legally respond:

“It was not part of our approved Annual Performance Plan.”

That is how silence becomes policy.

The APP and the Three Spheres of Government

1. National Government

At national level, the APP:

• Determines how arts and culture align with national priorities

• Informs allocations to entities like NAC, NFVF, and others

• Shapes conditional grants to provinces

If community arts, performers’ protection, or sector regulation are not in the national APP, provinces will struggle to justify spending on them — even if the need is obvious.

2. Provincial Government

Provincial APPs determine:

• Funding to Community Arts Centres

• Provincial programmes and festivals

• Support for local practitioners

• Relationships with municipalities

When arts priorities are weak or absent in provincial APPs:

• Community arts become the first casualty of budget cuts

• Infrastructure remains under-maintained

• Programmes depend on political goodwill rather than planning

3. Local Government (Municipalities)

Municipal APPs (often linked to IDPs) are critical for:

• Access to venues and facilities

• Local cultural programming

• Community-based employment opportunities

When arts and culture are not in municipal plans:

• Venues are repurposed or neglected

• Arts budgets disappear into “community services”

• Practitioners are told to look to national government instead

This creates a cycle of displacement and blame across all three spheres.

Why APP Literacy Is a Form of Power

Reading and understanding the APP enables practitioners to:

• Intervene before budgets are finalised

• Make submissions grounded in government language

• Hold officials accountable using their own targets

• Strengthen advocacy beyond slogans and hashtags

It shifts the sector from reaction to strategy.

From Performance to Participation

The Cultural and Creative Industries cannot remain a sector that only performs but does not participate in governance processes.

If we want:

• Regulation

• Sustainable funding

• Fair labour practices

• Functional institutions

Then we must engage with the instruments that shape power — including the Annual Performance Plan.

The APP is not a bureaucratic document for officials.
It is a map of intention, a contract with the public, and a mirror of political priorities.

And the most dangerous place for the arts to be…
is outside that map.

A Final Question to the Sector

If we do not read the APP,
If we do not interrogate it,
If we do not challenge what is missing from it…

Who exactly are we expecting to fight for the Cultural and Creative Industries on our behalf?

The time to engage is before the financial year begins — not after the money is gone.

The Creative Passport is an independent platform focused on Arts, Culture and the Creative Industries. Readers are encouraged to follow, comment and engage constructively.

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