The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has agreed to fork out 50 percent of the cost of hosting the Top Gear Festival in Durban, mayor James Nxumalo said at Monday’s full council meeting during a robust debate over whether the city could afford to stage the event.
Top Gear TV presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, as well as the popular character known as The Stig, are to appear at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium in June, when a temporary racetrack would be constructed to hold the festival.
Economic Development Department spokesman Bheko Madlala said a preliminary assessment indicated that there would be “positive economic benefits for the province through direct tourism arrivals, infrastructure spend as well as the enhancement of KZN’s automotive sector”.
Flawed
Madlala said a press briefing would be held soon at which the matter would be discussed. A report tabled before the council’s executive committee last year suggested that R31.4 million was needed to host the festival for the next three years, with eThekwini ratepayers having to pay more than R15m and the balance being covered by the province.
The report proposed a three-year agreement in a joint initiative, with the host city providing infrastructure and the province providing the event fees and operational costs, while Top Gear’s licensor would manage the event.
DA caucus leader Tex Collins said while the party had no objection to the festival, there were elements in its approval which indicated that the process had been flawed, and the festival had no budget provision.
“In the first instance, the provincial government signed the contract with Top Gear before any consultative process had been entertained at council level… What is of equal concern is that the tender (for infrastructure) for the festival has already been published, yet no approval from council was obtained in this regard,” Collins said.
He said it was clear that the city had not shaken off the legacy left by former municipal manager Michael Sutcliffe, and “continues to steamroll issues which, at the outset, are procedurally flawed and contrary to regulations”.
However, municipal legal services head Nokhana Moerane said the council had resolved last year that the executive committee had the authority to finalise any matter that may arise, including the Top Gear matter.
“So all seems to be in line,” she said in response to Collins’s statement.
Municipal manager Sibusiso Sithole said he had been informed that a contract had been signed by Sutcliffe and the city was therefore committed to hosting the event.
“We are now bound by that contract… We need to expedite the process, hence the tender was advertised,” he said.
Minority Front councillor Patrick Pillay said the city should consider investing in a permanent race track. - The Mercury
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