The last-minute move by Tshwane to withdraw its urgent application to the court to declare invalid the cancellation of the festival by Rockstar4000 has been described as an attempt to cover up its breaching of the Municipal Finances Management Act. The Court file - which contained a copy of SMS correspondence between Rockstar4000's Sean Watson and deputy city manager Lindiwe Kwele - in which Kwele justified the contravention of the act - reportedly disappeared from the court on tuesday.
The organisers had filed their replaying affidavit with copies of the SMS correspondence the previous day. In the affidavit, Rockstar4000 director Johannes Ferreira Louw said that when his company raised concerns about deviating from the requirements of the act, Kwele stated in an SMS: "Fact: Our justification for breaching MFMA by paying u guys all R25m was to ensure that artists are secured so I don't think EM [the mayor] will accept this excuse."
The metro spent R40-million on infrastructure and R25-million to secure artists for the Cullinan festival - including a R10-million non-refundable appearance fee paid to US rapper Nicki Minaj. There's also a host of local artists that were booked for the festival and word is that they were also paid an undisclosed amount to make-up the R65m spent.
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