By OBAKENG MAJE
Taung Cultural Calabash which was scheduled to take place on 15 October 2022, has been postponed indefinitely. The event was brought to a grinding halt after the boycott of the aggrieved local artists and business people.
These individuals alleged that the bidding adjudication process was flawed and accused the North West Arts, Sports, Culture and Recreation (ASCR) and Mmabana Foundation of corruption and favouritism.
A whopping R4 million was allocated for the event during this financial year.
The TCC was established back in 1994 as an annual youth-based arts festival and soon found a sponsor in the Transnet Foundation.
However, it was marred with corruption, mismanagement of funds, and maladministration. This forced the country’s transport parastatal, Transnet to pull the plug.
One of the local business persons, Xolani Nkonyana said, the event was supposed to encompass the culture and heritage of the community, instead it has lost its value.
Nkonyana further said, the event was also supposed to create job opportunities for local people, but it does not serve that purpose anymore because it has been ‘hijacked’ by criminals.
“We are happy that the event has been postponed. We have been trying in vain to have consultative engagements with the ASCR and Mmabana Foundation to iron out our grievances, however, our plea fell on deaf ears.
“There is a discrepancy in the awarding of the tender, so we called on Mmabana Foundation to conduct investigations, especially from the supply chain management (SCM),” he said.
Nkonyana added that it cannot be correct that the Mahika Mahikeng Cultural Festival and Taung Cultural Calabash events continue to be awarded to the same service provider over and over again. He said there are allegations that the local company, Kwaame Communication JV Designs by Caylos has been removed from the list even though it performed way better than the appointed service provider.
One of the bidders, Kwaame Communication JV Designs by Caylos, Kenosi Kehiloe shared the same sentiments. Kehiloe said even though they bid for the tender, they believe the tender processes were flawed.
“We did not even receive a call from the Mmabana Foundation to tell us where did we go wrong. We believe that would have assisted us because we will know where to improve in the future. However, we were surprised to see the appointed service provider having a piece of first-hand information before even the winner could be announced.
“So, we suspect that there might be a personal relationship between him and some government officials. It is also alleged that, the service provider submitted two different quotations of R3.5million and R6million using different companies,” he said.
Kehiloe also alleged that the same service provider wanted to pay semi-professional artists a meagre R5000.
Meanwhile, the Mmabana Foundation spokesperson, Kelebogile Modiselle said: “The postponement of the event emanates from the disruptions at the Mmabana Taung Centre. This is to ensure safety amongst all Mmabana stakeholders.
“The entity will issue out an invite to its patrons for a stakeholder engagement to try and find an amicable way to preserve the flagship festival. So, dates and venue will be communicated soon on the entity’s website.”
The Guardian 