Court battle looms as official Tweede Nuwe Jaar festival goes ahead

The official Tweede Nuwe Jaar Festival will proceed as planned on Monday, January 5, and is not affected by a separate court matter involving another minstrel organisation and venue availability, the City of Cape Town said.

The Tweede Nuwe Jaar Festival, organised by the Kaapse Klopse Karnival Association, is expected to draw around 20 000 performers who will march from Chiappini Street along Somerset Road before entering the DHL Stadium. The 1.2km parade route is free to the public and forms part of one of Cape Town’s most iconic cultural celebrations.

The official Tweede Nuwe Jaar Festival, the City said, is unrelated to a court application brought by the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival Association (CTMCA), which concerns the organisation's application to use the Vygieskraal Stadium.

The CTMCA claimed the City withdrew approval for the use of Vygieskraal Stadium and declined a separate street parade application without providing reasons.

The Western Cape High Court ruled late on Monday night, December 29, that the City must provide a suitable venue for minstrel troupes to participate in their cultural competition.

Court proceedings ran well into the night before judgment was handed down in favour of the CTMCA. 

On Friday, January 2, the City said in a statement that it has filed an appeal against a High Court ruling ordering the immediate provision of a venue for the CTMCA, stating that no suitable stadium was available on the dates requested.

The City added that it had informed the CTMCA as early as September that January weekend venues were fully booked or unsuitable for medium-risk events, as graded by the South African Police Service.

"The City has since formally offered to help the CTMCA with Athlone stadium on available mid-week dates in January and a weekend in February. This offer is, of course, subject to CTMCA duly complying with applicable legislation, including those laws that regulate the event permitting process and doing business with the City," the City said in a statement.

December and January are the busiest months on the City’s events calendar, with stadiums often booked in advance. The City maintained that the CTMCA failed to act timeously before launching an urgent court application.

CTMCA has since released a statement appealing for support amid the ongoing legal battle.

"We are struggling financially to challenge this latest appeal and urgently seeking assistance from the community and potential donors.

"The City has offered alternative dates - all Wednesdays in January and two days in February during Ramadan - which do not align with our original request for January 1, 10, 17, and 24. Notably, the Athlone Stadium was available on January 1, one of our request dates, with (no events) taken off at the stadium."