Spending R700 000 of public funds on the Ecawe Music Festival is ill conceived and inappropriate, the Port Alfred Ratepayers and Residents Association (PARRA) says. The organisation says it’s a disgrace that Ndlambe Municipality approved spending that amount on what it says is a frivolous event.
The Ecawa Music Festival is scheduled to take place at Mamityi Gidana Stadium eNdlovini, Nemato, from 3pm on Sunday December 24 to 5am on Sunday December 25.
PARRA’s comment came after the Ndlambe Council approved recommendations that the municipality:
- Commits to funding Lutifusion Pty Ltd R700 000 to host eCawa Music Festival
- 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 local SMMEs for 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 and culture, Ndlambe Municipality and the Sarah Baartman District Municipality. He named it Ndlambe Music Festival. He 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 socio-economic conditions of local communities, the report said.
The report argued that music festivals were good for tourism because they enhanced the municipality’s image and developed “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 that “the current economic situation necessitates that attention be given to development of more tourism offerings… the offerings will increase economic activities within the tourism space and ultimately [contribute] toward local economic growth of Ndlambe.”
The report also argues that the demise of East London’s Bulel’ eKhaya music festival, Ecawa would be the only one hosted in the region during that period.
“One would expect an influx of people to this year’s festival.”
The report’s recommendations were fully supported by the ANC caucus in council, as well as the EFF councilors. The DA strongly opposed it. The report’s recommendations were accepted by Council.
PARRA chairperson Lindsay Luppnow-Burrow, commenting on the meeting’s decision, said, “PARRA is vehemently opposed to this wanton, ill-conceived 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!
“PARRA is strongly opposed to this way of spending ratepayers’ money, or any source of funding that the municipality has access to on a single-day event, when our roads are in a state of disarray, infrastructure throughout the town needs repair, people in the CBD can’t go to the toilet in a dignified manner because of the current state of the public toilets, drains in the CBD are blocked and there’s no equipment available to clean them,” Luppnow-Burrow continued.
“PARRA believes it is a disgrace for Ndlambe Municipality to even propose spending money on an event like this. The current state of town makes it very unattractive for visitors and possible investors when they come here for the festive season.”
On their Facebook page Ecawa Music Festival has called for people to apply to work as bar tenders, “promo girls”, bouncers, car guards and poster designers, as well as SMMEs to provide security, décor, transport, tents and sound equipment hire. Artists named in publicity material so far include Nkosazana Dauther, Aymos, Dlala THukzin, Morda, Nathi, Big Nuz, Vusi Nova, Sjava, Betusile, Mr Thela, Russell Zuma, Ligwa, Monde Fani and Luckees Mfowethu. Ticket prices range from R100 to R450.
