City dismayed at postponement of annual Tweede Nuwe Jaar parade

The City of Cape Town wants to reiterate that we have done all we can to support the annual minstrel parade events and have kept to our end of the agreement.

We have had numerous meetings with the Cape Cultural and Carnival Committee to ensure that all logistics and plans were in place to ensure a successful event.

Up until yesterday, 4 January 2015, we were under the impression that the event was going ahead as planned.

To cancel the parade at the last minute causes a major inconvenience to so many people, including many supporters who have already gathered along the route to watch and support the minstrels.

We were informed via media reports on Sunday that the annual minstrel parade was postponed and only received official notification today.

To say that the City has not been supporting the committee, or that the date change was made for the City, is not true and completely disingenuous of the committee.

City officials have met with the committee numerous times over the past few weeks and we have done all we can to support them.

On 23 December 2014, following a meeting between the City and the Cape Cultural and Carnival Committee, we agreed on a date change to 5 January 2015 in order to respect the religious significance of the original date of 3 January.

There was agreement on this and a joint statement was issued by the City and the City and the Cape Cultural and Carnival Committee.

The City committed to assist with new logistical arrangements that were required and these logistics were in place for the parade to take place today.

On 30 December 2014, the City again met with the committee where they requested additional funding for transport for the troupes. They requested R400 000 for the transport and an additional R600 000 to pay the bands an appearance fee.

As the City has already provided funding to the committee which was approved through our various processes and in line with the Municipal Finance Management Act, we agreed that we could only allocate R385 000.

The committee accepted and thanked the City for this offer in writing.

This offer also meant that the additional R385 000 for transport had to be reallocated from the R1,65 million budget for other City services.

Regarding the latest proposed date change, the City is not in position to decide on a new date as we are not the competent authority.

The City's events permit office received a request for consideration to change the date; however it is subject to legal requirements.

In November 2014, the City along with the Western Cape Government, signed a historical agreement with the newly formed Cape Cultural and Carnival Committee which would guide the way forward and to ensure successful annual events.

The agreement states that they as the committee are the event organisers and that it is their responsibility to ensure that all relevant preparations are in place for the events to take place successfully.

It is their own doing that the event has not taken place.

After many discussions with the City and at the request of the associations and boards allied to the Cape Town Minstrels Carnival events and competitions, they were of the view that they were well aligned and ready to organise the events themselves.

They requested that the City play a supportive role, as in previous years, rather than a coordinating role and we have done so.

The City has already given the committee a sum of R2 million to organise the events, along with City support services valued at R1,65 million; while the Western Cape Government also gave the committee a total of R2,35 million.

The committee also receives funding from the National Lotteries Board and the National Government and they need to start accounting for the funding.

The responsibility rests solely with them to ensure that the events are a success and that the money is used for its intended purposes. 

To blame the City in any way for the cancellation of the parade today is a blatant lie.

In November there was agreement and confidence that the minstrels would organise their own event.

They are responsible for procuring all services and ensuring that these services are secured in time for the event.

The City has kept to our end of the agreement and fulfilled our responsibilities, but the committee has failed hopelessly in their responsibilities.

City had no role in cancellation of Tweede Nuwe Jaar minstrel parade

Following statements made by the ANC, the City of Cape Town would like to present the facts of the situation surrounding the postponement of the annual Tweede Nuwe Jaar minstrel parade.

The ANC are liars. Neither the City of Cape Town nor the DA have cancelled the annual minstrel parade which was set to take place today, 5 January 2015. As we have stated before, the City was only informed via media reports yesterday (4 January 2015) that the organiser of the minstrel parade, the Cape Cultural and Carnival Committee, cancelled their own event. They are on record cancelling their own event after they failed to execute their responsibilities, such as procuring services needed for the event and paying service providers.

Regarding the ANC's comments about hiring the Cape Town Stadium, again the ANC is lying. The process for booking the stadium has got nothing to do with the minstrels. We followed due process and they had to pay upfront. It is very clear why the ANC's support is not growing in the Western Cape and in Cape Town in particular, because they have no substance, no alternative policies and they are liars. The Western Cape is the best-run province and Cape Town is the best-run municipality in the country and the ANC just has to accept it.

In terms of the use of the stadium, the ANC and the City signed an agreement finalising the plan and logistical arrangements for their event this weekend. It is strange that after they signed the agreement, they are making a noise to people. For the ANC to complain at this stage is ridiculous.  

The upfront payment system is standard operating procedure for use of the stadium. All event organisers who use the stadium are subject to the same terms and conditions and these are well articulated in the standard contractual agreement between the stadium and its clients/users. No changes to this procedure have been made for the ANC event.

The safe management of crowds is a stipulated requirement in terms of the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act of 2010 that governs large crowds in stadiums. Further to this, the South African Police Service, who is responsible for overseeing all safety aspects at major events, has determined that the issuing of tickets will be required for this event.

The purchasing of tickets is the generally accepted way of determining crowd numbers. In instances where entrance is free, this practice of issuing tickets has remained in place such as in the case of the recent Nelson Mandela memorial celebrations. The ticketing plan for the weekend's event is currently being finalised with the ANC representatives.

Statements issued by Patricia de Lille, Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town, December 5 2014

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