Pretoria - The TribeOne Dinokeng music festival in Cullinan will not take place over the next three days - costing ratepayers R65 million in wasted funds - but this may not be the end of the city’s woes as it could face a multimillion rand damages claim for “breach of contract”.
TribeOne spokesman Derrick Kaufmann on Thursday said the organisers were seriously considering a damages claim against the city following cancellation of the event.
The City of Tshwane this week launched an urgent application to compel the organisers to proceed with the concert. It was due to be heard on Thursday.
But counsel representing the city told Gauteng Provincial Division High Court Judge Eben Jordaan it had removed the application from the urgent roll.
Legal representatives acting for Sony Music Entertainment Africa and Rock Star 4000 Entertainment were not happy with this. Rafik Bhana SC told the judge the city simply filed a notice to say the matter had been removed, but did not address the legal costs incurred in the fruitless application. Judge Jordaan said the matter was not urgent and struck it off the roll, saying the costs could be argued later.
Kaufmann said outside court the organisers would enroll the matter again in two weeks to argue who should pay the legal costs.
It is believed this could amount to R500 000 as each side employed a senior and junior advocate. If costs are granted against the city, this will be another blow to ratepayers.
Kaufmann confirmed the concert was off and was not going to take place over the next three years - as agreed on in the contract with the city. “This agreement is cancelled, but we are open to a new agreement and an amicable solution.”
But the organisers were clear that for now, the horse had bolted.
Both parties are pointing fingers at each other for Africa’s biggest music festival having been aborted. Nomasonto Ndlovu, a council executive director, said in court papers the city was keen on hosting the festival and had met its deadlines. By September 15 the infrastructure was in place, but she accused the organisers of dragging their heels.
The organisers in turn said when they inspected the site, it was clear it would take at least six months to get it ready. They stated in court papers that the city had repudiated the agreement because at the time it entered into it, Tshwane did not own the land where the festival was to be held. The government owned 60 percent of the land and Cullinan Diamond Mine the other 40 percent.
Ndlovu said this came to light for the first time in March as a “complete surprise” to the council. Meanwhile, the city had been negotiating with the mine to lease the land.
Following cancellation of the agreement earlier this month, it was negotiated to hold the concert at Loftus, but the organisers said it would entail incurring more expenses. They said they tried to salvage the situation by suggesting that the festival be postponed to April next year. They wrote a letter to the council but received no response.
This led to them terminating the agreement.
Pretoria News