The court has found the decision by the Free State Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation to award C-Squared the tender to organise the festival to be unlawful, and struck down the service agreement between the company and the department. 

The department's decision to appoint C-Squared as the events organiser for Macufe ended up in court when one of the unsuccessful bidders, DS Consortium, filed an urgent court application for the appointment to be declared unlawful and set aside, stating that some of the specifications of the tender were changed without other bidders being notified. 

DS Consortium's director, Mosa Likobo, said that had he known that multiple events could be hosted at a single venue, DS Consortium’s bid would have been lower than the nearly R23 million they had submitted – their bid was that much because they were of the view that they would have to move equipment to and from different venues, which would demand extra costs for transport and labour. C-Squared’s, who arranged one venue for different events, bid was R16,8 million.

"The tender invitation had specifications that we had to follow when submitting our bids; different venues and dates where the events would be held were provided," he explained. "However, the successful bidder did not follow those specifications."

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The court heard the three sides' arguments on the merits of the application four days before the first official Macufe 2022 event took place and made judgment after at least four Macufe events were held, namely the soccer tournament, Tshepe vs. Amapiano, the boxing match and gospel concert.

The department has gone ahead with the rest of Macufe's events after the judgment. The department spokesperson, Tankiso Zola, said the judgment does not stop the festival from continuing. 

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In addition, the department and C-Squared have been ordered by the court to pay the legal costs of the application and pay one another to be absolved. 

OFM News