Minstrels seek public funds as court battle with city over venues continues

The Cape Town Minstrel Carnival Association (CTMCA) has launched a fundraising drive to support its legal fight against the City of Cape Town, seeking to compel it to provide a venue for minstrel competition events.

The CTMCA and the city have been embroiled in a legal battle since December 27, when the association lodged an urgent application in the Western Cape High Court after the city withdrew its provisional approval for the use of Vygieskraal Stadium.

The city said it withdrew the provisional booking a few days later, “after identifying significant operational and safety concerns, including statutory venue risk-grading and event risk-grading limitations”.

The court ordered the city to provide the association with a venue for its competitions on January 1, 10, 17 and 24.

Judge James Lekhuleni ordered the city to “take all steps necessary to facilitate” the association’s compliance with all applicable event permit requirements. These include the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act (Sasrea), the city’s events by-law “and any other applicable legislation or by-laws, within such timeframes as are necessary to enable the events to proceed on the dates specified.”

The city challenged the decision, but Lekhuleni dismissed the application at midnight on December 31. On Friday, the city filed a further appeal to overturn the order, arguing that it “expects the impossible: to provide a venue that simply isn’t available on the dates requested”.

The CTMCA has now appealed to the public for funds to continue with the legal challenge.

“The Cape Town Minstrels Carnival Association (CTMCA) is facing a critical juncture in our efforts to host our scheduled events,” the association said in a statement.

“Despite a high court order issued on January 1, the City of Cape Town has filed another appeal for relief, forcing us to return to court. We are struggling financially to challenge this latest appeal and are urgently seeking assistance from the community and potential donors.”

The CTMCA said the city’s suggested alternative dates for venue use were unsuitable.

“The city 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,” the association said.

“We believe in the importance of our events for the community and are determined to see this through. However, we need support to cover the costs of legal proceedings. We appeal to anyone who can assist us financially to come forward.”

The city said “it must be noted that the CTMCA did not act timeously to secure a venue and meet permitting requirements, and instead waited three months before filing an urgent application”.

“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 the CTMCA duly complying with applicable legislation, including those laws that regulate the event permitting process and doing business with the city,” it said.

“All of this is unrelated to the official Tweede Nuwe Jaar parade set for January 5. The street parade is free of charge to the public.”

The Tweede Nuwe Jaar Festival, organised by the Kaapse Klopse Karnival Association, will see about 20,000 performers march.

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