NDLAMBE MUSIC FESTIVAL TO GO AHEAD AT DIFFERENT VENUE

NDLAMBE council confirmed it will help fund the Ndlambe Music Festival on December 29, despite assurances by event organisers, the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture (DSRAC), that no funding would be requested at its recent presentation to the full council.

The reasons given at last Thursday’s final council meeting of the year were that the department was requesting funding because bringing national artists (artists who perform before national audiences) was proving expensive. Further, DSRAC asked that the municipality fund finding and developing three young artists from the Ndlambe area to perform at the music festival. its presentation to council last month, DSRAC gave assurances that should the municipality decide to allow DSRAC to run the event, the department would handle all the details of the event. They would also take three local young artists and mentor them to ultimately organising recording facilities for them to attempt to land a recording contract.

At that meeting the council was told that the only thing Ndlambe would be responsible for was the provision of a venue and the personnel to select three local artists to perform at the festival.

Now, however, DSRAC is asking for funding.

The 2017 budget revealed that the council had budgeted some R365 000 for a festival that it would organise. This amount was withdrawn by council which was not in favour of a festival this year.

Councillor Ray Schenk said that this money should be used to increase Ndlambe’s capacity in terms of sewage removal by purchasing two or perhaps three new “honey-suckers”. He said that the DA did not support any funding for the festival.

ANC councillor Monica Mateti said it was the duty of the council to support young people. Former mayor and now audit committee member, Sipho Tandani, raised a red flag in that, according to the auditor-general’s recommendations, as a part of an act of parliament, this festival was not sustainable and would therefore be regarded as wasteful and fruitless expenditure. However, council decided that, as the money was still available, it would be used to assist DSRAC with the festival after all. With very little time left it appears little has been done to identify the young artists who will benefit from the DSRAC event. The event will take place at Manityi Gidana stadium in Nemato. A special event permit needed to be applied for which would require SAPS and municipal approval.