Macufe: A year since the damning judgment

Staff reporter

Bloemfontein – Today, 3 October marks a full year since the famous judgment handed down declaring the awarding of Macufe 2022 to Consumer Connectedness (C-2), unlawful, to date the case is still on after marathon appeals.

The court also struck down the service agreement concluded between the department and C-Squared.

The department and the event management company were jointly ordered to pay the cost of the application.

The department awarded the multimillion-rand tender to C-Squared a month prior, but a week before the festivities were due to begin, DS Consortium lodged an urgent court interdict to challenge the decision of the department, arguing that there were irregularities in the awarding of the tender.

What followed was an appeal which was denied and the leave for appeal was also denied.

The department then petitioned the Supreme Court of Appeal asking it to refer the matter to the high court and this was granted.

As if that was enough, the Hawks raided offices of Sport, Arts, Culture, and Recreation and seized documents related to Macufe dating back to 2016.

With the 2023 edition of Macufe off the rails, Lemo Festival occupied the space, though the department responsible to organise Macufe has not released any statement regarding Macufe and its budget, STEP UP can reveal that the department and C-2 held a meeting on Tuesday, 19 September 2023 over usage of Macufe Cup as an intellectual property of government and funding requested to host the match.

The match in question was to feature Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates at Free State Rugby Stadium on the 15 October 2023.

With the new HoD, Steve Tshabalala starting today, it remains to be seen how he will handle the mess moving forward.

Tshabalala was appointed last week.

At least three Treasury officials were suspended over payment of the 2022 edition of Macufe with one still suspended after briefly returning to work.

Free State high court ordered Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation to pay C-2 the remaining balance of R3 million plus interest and of over R200 000 after they launched an appeal.

This is a developing story.

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