Advocate Lebohang Mokhele says a default judgment is handed down when the respondent has not responded to summons or has failed to appear before the court of law, the failure to take action is the default.

He explains that since the judgment is a default judgment, chances that the provincial department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation and C-Squared appealing it (judgment) are close to none, because they have failed to take action. High Court’s Judge Phillip Loubser's judgment stipulates that it has reviewed the department’s decision of appointing C-Squared as the service provider, and following the review, it has declared the decision unlawful and has set it aside.

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Mokhele further says that the court’s judgment means that the service provider can no longer go forward with organising or hosting Macufe. The best thing that the department can do without postponing or cancelling the festival is by appointing another service provider who had previously responded to the invitation of hosting the festival. “In a situation of postponing the festival, the department can ask the artists when they will be available or give them new dates for the new festival, because I can imagine that the deposits have been made already,” he adds. 

In appointing a different service provider, it can be the applicant or any other bidder, but it cannot be C-Squared as that appointment has been declared unlawful. The department has said that they will go ahead with the festival, as the judgment does not stop the festival from continuing. The department’s decision to continue with Macufe comes days before Loubser gives reasons for the judgment he has handed down.

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What Mokhele advises tenderprenuers to learn from this court battle is to always ask for the reasons why their bids were not successful. “Bidders have the right to ask the department for reasons why their bids were not successful, and the department must make the reasons available.” 

He concludes that he wishes bidders can ask for reasons why their bids were not successful more often, and they approach legal advisors with those reasons should they feel those reasons are not good enough. In court, the attorney who appeared on behalf of the applicant, DS Consortium, was Joubert Zietsman who stated their wish is not for Macufe 2022 not to happen, they merely want everything to be done lawful.

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