Outrage over R700K purse for music fest

Fix state of town first to boost tourism: Parra

Spending R700,000 of public funds on the Ecawe Music Festival is “illconceived” and inappropriate, the Port Alfred Ratepayers and Residents Association says.

The organisation says it is a disgrace that Ndlambe Municipality has approved spending that amount on what it says is a frivolous event.

The association’s comment came after the Ndlambe council approved recommendations that the municipality:

Commits to funding Lutifusion R700,000 to host the eCawa Music Festival; and

Enters a three-year service level agreement (SLA) with Lutifusion that includes monitoring of the standard of service provided by the company, as well as preference to SMMEs providing locally sourced goods and services.

Makhanda-based entrepreneur Siyabulela ‘Ivy’ Madyo, who owns Lutifusion, first hosted the festival in 2018 as a joint venture between the department of sport, recreation, arts & culture, Ndlambe Municipality and the Sarah Baartman District Municipality.

He named it the Ndlambe Music Festival but changed the name after a legal challenge last year by the owner of the trademark, NJH Group.

In 2022, a full council meeting approved a R200,000 budget for Madyo’s project.

This year, the amount approved has ballooned to R700,000.

The motivating report from the municipal manager’s office says economic growth in Ndlambe has mostly been from agriculture and tourism.

“Agriculture in the area has provided food security and employment,” the report says.

“The same cannot be said about tourism.”

A decline in agriculture over recent years, resulting in retrenchments, had likewise impacted on the socioeconomic conditions of local communities, the report says.

The report argues that music festivals are good for tourism because they enhance the municipality’s image and develop “a vibrant cultural hub with potential to attract investment and development opportunities to Ndlambe”.

Arguing further that government is the enabler to economic development, “it therefore means seed funding must always be proportional to the expected spinoffs”.

In the council meeting on October 31, no projection was made that quantified those spinoffs, however.

The report says “the current economic situation necessitates attention be given to development of more tourism offerings …“

The report also argues that with the demise of East London’s Bulel’eKhaya Music Festival, the Ecawa festival will see an influx of people coming to the region.

The recommendations were fully supported by the ANC caucus and EFF councilors. The DA strongly opposed it.

PARRA chairperson Lindsay Luppnow-Burrow, said the organisation was vehemently opposed to this "wanton, illconceived idea. Clean beaches and adjacent clean well serviced toilet facilities and good roads and a regular supply of potable water is what tourism is about - not a one-day music festival.”