Nicolette Dirk
MEMBERS of the Cape District Minstrel Board are up in arms over the city’s decision to move their annual competition to another venue.
The board’s members said they were determined to host the competition at Florida Park Stadium in Ravensmead – even if they had to break down the gates to get in.
Board chairwoman Shahieda Thole said they had submitted their application to use Florida Park in February.
“For the past four years, I have always sent our application 11 months before the competition.
“We were only informed on December 2 that we would have to host the competition somewhere else,” Thole said yesterday during a joint press briefing with the EFF
.
The board’s members plan to meet Alex Dykes, the city manager for sport and recreation, today to get answers.
Georgina Smith, chairwoman of the Elsies River Community Entertainers, said her troupe’s 600 members would have to pay extra money for travelling if the competitions were held elsewhere.
Board secretary Naym Hendricks said they would not take the city’s decision lying down. “They will have to drag us off the field.”
EFF provincial chairman Bernard Joseph said such an incident would not have been tolerated if it was a wine festival or the Bastille Festival in Franschhoek.
“We saw in previous years how the coons were abused by members of the DA and the ANC for political gain,” he said.
Garreth Bloor, Mayco member for tourism, events and economic development, said the situation was problematic as Florida Park’s fields were used by local clubs and were more suited for sport and recreation.
He said the city’s sport, recreation and amenities department had identified Bellville South Stadium as an alternative venue for the 2015 minstrel competitions.
Bloor said that last year, booking requests for Florida Park coincided with a critical maintenance period and this had resulted in maintenance being compromised.
“For future requests, the SRA will rotate the use of those facilities capable of hosting such events,” said Bloor.