This comes after the festival has continued despite a lot of uncertainties surrounding participants and the awarding of the tender. The Mangaung Service Delivery Forum’s (MSDF) Secretary-General, Mpho Mojanaga, says since the inception of the festival, Free State artists and entrepreneurs have been deliberately excluded and victimised, whereas artists from outside the province are given preferencial treatment at the expense of those who are supposed to benefit from the event.

“We have seen corruption, nepotism and criminality against the people of this province. For all these years, the monopoly of this event has been the order of the day. The rigging of these processes and unprocedural awarding of the tender have been institutionalised and normalised, to the extent that nothing wrong is seen in all this. We have witnessed individuals both in government and in the private sector being rich, and ordinary people - artists and entrepreneurs - being poor and exploited,” adds Mojanaga.

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Macufe 2022 started on Friday 30 September 2022 with two events - a musical show at the Old Greys' Sports Club in Bloemfontein called ‘Tshepe vs. Amapiano’ and a boxing match at Pacofs. Both events, and the rest of the Macufe events, are organised by the C-Squared events company.

ALSO READ: Macufe court bid launched against Free State Arts and Culture

The court battle about whether the department followed procedure in awarding the tender to C-Squared began when the director of DS Consortium, Mosa Likobo, noticed that the details in the advertisements about Macufe events had changed. The spokesperson responsible for the Free State Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Tankiso Zola, said they have taken note of, and fully respect the reserved judgment of the court on the matter. As for the department, they will always welcome the right of any citizen or entity to pursue legal avenues to safeguard their rights.

Meanwhile, Mojanaga says they are following the court case with keen interest and they will ensure that any outcome awaited in the reserved verdict is followed and respected. However, once the verdict is out, and in case the court finds any wrongdoing regarding the processes, they will ensure consequence management is implemented and anyone responsible is held accountable.  

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He also adds that as far as the Macufe Cup is concerned - played last week Sunday 25 September 2022 - they are disappointed and indicated that they are not surprised. They fully understand that this was a continuous act of victimising and hurting the people of Mangaung and the soccer-loving people and Siwelele Supporters, in particular, at home and in the diaspora.

The first ever participation of Royal AM in the Macufe Cup, which bought the Premier Soccer League (PSL) status from Bloemfontein Celtic last year, angered supporters of the green and white nation and they ended up boycotting the match. Celtic supporters' national chairman, Pule Mabena, said the decision to bring one of the Soweto giants, Kaizer Chiefs, and KwaZulu-Natal's flamboyant Royal AM to play at Macufe is insensitive, disrespectful, and hurtful.

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