The Department of Arts and Culture deals with matters pertaining to arts and culture and renders State archive and heraldic services at national level. The Council of Culture Ministers makes important decisions on policy matters of national impact, and consists of the Minister and Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology and members of provincial executive councils responsible for arts and culture. The Department of Arts and Culture provides substantial means for a skills training programme for the creative industries including crafts, film, music and live events.

National Arts Council (NAC)
The main task of the NAC is to advise the Minister on arts policies for the country, in addition to distributing funds to artists and arts organisations and for bursaries. The Department of Arts and Culture has allocated an additional R20 million to the NAC for the 2002 – 2005 financial years. In order to develop and transform the performing arts, the Department has identified the following projects:
 
- the Indigenous Song and Dance Troupe, which requires estimated funding of R1 million until 2005. A panel of experts to research and train a cultural performance group will be constituted.
 
- the Cultural Capital City of South Africa concept, which requires an estimated amount of R1 million. This will primarily promote cultural tourism and develop infrastructure in partnership with local authorities.
 
- historical black arts institutions will be allocated R4 million based on their business plans. Some of these institutions include Funda Arts (Gauteng), Sibikwa Community Theatre Project (Gauteng), Community Arts Project (Western Cape), Rorke's Drift Centre (KwaZulu-Natal), DAKAWA (Eastern Cape) and The Bat Centre (KwaZulu-Natal).