Jazz festival ends on sour note for fans

THE Cape Town International Jazz Festival ended on a sour note on Saturday when throngs of music lovers were denied access to the venue where crowd favourite Thandiswa Mazwai was performing.

Mazwai – whose latest album‚ Belede‚ was released to rave reviews late last year – was one of the 39 local and international acts featured in the festival‚ and the biggest drawcard.

But she was billed to perform on the Rosies stage‚ one of the festival’s smallest.

When hundreds of fans‚ each of whom paid R1 190 for a two-day pass‚ tried to gain access to the stage‚ they were turned back by guards who told them they needed an extra ticket.

This created a nearstampede on the upper level of the Cape Town International Convention Cen- tre. Many fans lost their cool and lashed out at management for allegedly short-changing them.

Attempts to obtain comment from Khalid Abdulla‚ acting chief executive of events management and production company espAfrika‚ and festival director Billy Domingo were unsuccessful.

Senior espAfrika staff member Muso Lehane told disgruntled fans the Rosies stage had always been reserved for select acts‚ for which fans had to pay an extra R30.

But irate jazz lover Mpho Lediga, of Polokwane‚ Limpopo‚ said he had attended the festival for the past 12 years and had never heard of “exclusive performances for a select few”.

He said had he had spent R7 000 – including costs of flights and accommodation – to attend the show.

“I feel cheated‚” he said. – TMG Digital/TimesLive