The Free State Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation announced it has opposed the urgent High Court interdict by DS Consortium.
The department has further expressed confidence that the show will go on as planned.
This is amid the Free State High Court reserved judgment regarding the awarding of the 2022 Macufe tender to C Squared to organise the multimillion rand festival.
The legal matter came after aggrieved DS Consortium director Mosa Likobo indicted the department and the C Squared Group.
The disgruntled entity alleges irregularities in the awarding of the tender to counterparts.
“The department will await the court judgment and will take legal advice on any necessary and relevant legal course of action moving forward. The department would like to assure the patrons of the festival and the public at large that the festival is still on course. The department fully respects the reserved judgement on this matter,” said Tankiso Zola, spokesperson of the department.
“While the department would not want to comment on matters that are sub judice it is befitting to indicate that the narrative that there was no appointment letter and/or Service Level Agreement between the department and the appointed service provider is misleading. The department has provided all the documents to the court and the litigant. The public is thus advised not to be victim of falsehoods that are often peddled in the public domain,” said Zola.
He said any developments around the matter will be communicated timely to the public.
Judge Phillip Loubser reserved judgment on Monday (26/09), after he had heard arguments by the opposing parties. He indicated the matter was too complex for him to make a judgement immediately, or on Tuesday. Furthermore, Judge Loubser indicated he wanted to understand throughout the hearing was why the applicant, Likobo, had waited until the commencement of Macufe to launch an urgent application.
