Macufe 2022 will start on Friday 30 September 2022 with two events: a musical show at the Old Greys' Sports Club in Bloemfontein called ‘Tshepe vs. Amapiano’ and a boxing match at Pacofs – both events, and the rest of the Macufe events, are organised by the C-Squared events company.

The spokesperson responsible for the Free State Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Tankiso Zola, says they have taken note of, and fully respect the reserved judgment of the court on the matter. As for the department, they will always welcome the right of any citizen or entity to pursue legal avenues to safeguard their rights.

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During court arguments on Monday 26 September 2022, Joubert Zietsman, the attorney who appeared on behalf of the applicant, DS Consortium, revealed that they had not seen an appointment letter nor a signed agreement between the department and the service provider for Macufe, C-Squared. 

Zola states they wish not to comment on matters that are still in court – however, he would like to indicate that the narrative that there is neither an appointment letter nor a signed agreement is misleading. 

"The department has provided all the documents to the court and the litigant," he adds.

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The court battle about whether the department followed procedure in awarding the tender to C-Squared began when the director of DS Consortium, Mosa Likobo, noticed that the details in the advertisements about Macufe events had changed. 

He said the specifications on where and when certain events should be held are of importance to the festival – because it is centred on those specifications. 

The ten events that they bid on were supposed to be held at different venues, but C-Squared will be hosting seven of these events at one venue, namely Old Greys. 

Likobo explained that had he known that multiple events could be hosted at a single venue, DS Consortium’s bid would have been lower than the R22 960 962.40 he had submitted – his bid budgeted for the moving of equipment to and from different venues, which would have demanded extra transport and labour. 

C-Squared’s bid of R16 849 863.80 was lower because different events will be held at the same venue.

At the hearing, Judge Phillip Loubser asked, should his judgment favour the applicant, what will it mean for Macufe 2022 - does it mean there won’t be a Macufe for the third year running? 

He also stressed the question of why Likobo waited until the commencement of Macufe to launch an urgent application – as he (Likobo) already found out on 9 September 2022 that Macufe events would be happening at only one venue, and asked why he did not apply at that time.

Zietsman stated that if the judge rules in favour of his client, it does not necessarily mean that "there will not be a Macufe 2022," and that all they want is "for things to be done lawfully".

He also argued that the current Macufe events and the Soulful to Soulful events, the brainchild of C-Squared, are a mirror of each other. "It is unfair to other bidders that the specifications of the tender were changed without any notification," he adds.

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As to the question why they applied for an urgent application at the time they did, he said, according to his and his client’s knowledge, Macufe was to commence on 2 October with a gospel event and the soccer match, held on 25 September 2022, was to be held on 9 October, this is according to the specifications on the tender invitation; therefore, they believed they still had time to appeal.

Zola concludes that while judgment is still reserved, Macufe will go on in accordance with the advertised dates and venues.

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