Cape Town – The competition part of the Tweede Nuwe Jaar minstrel celebration could return to the Green Point precinct if negotiations between the Kaapse Klopse Karnavaal Association (KKKA) and the city council go off smoothly.
The KKKA has been granted a permit to march through the city on January 2, a decision which has angered rival organisation the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival Assiociation (CTMCA), to the point where it has withdrawn all 36 of its troupes from the annual parade.
The multidisciplinary competition between the troupes takes place every Saturday at Athlone Stadium until mid-February, when a winner is declared.
However, the KKKA’s Muneeb Gambeno said they were in discussion with the city to move the competition to Cape Town Stadium or the Green Point Athletics Track.
“The city should be commended for its support of all the minstrels And that we may realise a post-1994 ambition to return the minstrels to the traditional home of the Green Point Stadium precinct,” he said.
Gambeno lamented the CTMCA’s decision to withdraw its troupes, amounting to about 50 000 minstrels, from the Tweede Nuwe Jaar parade which he said was a “tradition which has united the people of the Cape Flats for over 100 years”.
CTMCA had been the permit holder for the last two years, he said, and all it meant was that they were responsible for organising the programme.
Gambeno said the KKKA’s more than 30 troupes – with about 500 members each – along with the 14 troupes of the Cape Minstrel Board, would carry on the show.
CTMCA’s Kevin Momberg on Thursday stuck to his guns about the withdrawal of his troupes, saying it was a “democratic decision”.
His association would perform at Athlone Stadium on January 2 from noon, and would still participate in the competition itself.
“We always marched together, until the city divided us,” said Momberg.