No longer permitted to fund flagship events such as the Ebubeleni Music Festival and the Uitenhage Picnic under its summer events contract, the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality is turning to its development agency to deliver an expanded festive season programme.
On Tuesday, councillors approved plans for the sport, recreation, arts and culture directorate (SRAC) to enter into a R3m agreement with the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) to implement additional events as part of the summer season.
This is because the city can no longer approve sponsorship proposals.
A National Treasury circular prevents municipalities from sponsoring events and instead directs them to go through supply chain management (SCM) processes.
However, during Tuesday’s meeting, councillors questioned whether the R3m allocation would be enough to fund the additional programme if both flagship events could not proceed under the existing arrangement.
The municipality has traditionally been the main sponsor of the two events.
During the meeting, sport, recreation, arts and culture political head Sinebhongo Kwatsha tabled a report stating that the Treasury had issued Circular 131 in March 2025, requiring municipalities procuring goods and services to comply with the procurement processes set out in Section 217 of the constitution.
Certain points in the section state that Section 67 should not be used as a mechanism to bypass the procurement of goods and/or services, whether functions are assigned or unassigned.
Section 217 applies to any procurement of goods and services in relation to the performance of an assigned or unassigned function.
Section 67 was never meant to be used for business transactions.
“The above means that any additional events the municipality would like to add to the summer season programme would have to be subjected to a supply chain management process.
“SRAC started the SCM process, which is still under way and will not be finalised in time to enable the event organisers to oversee the implementation of the additional events on time,” the report reads.
The municipality planned to hold the two events on December 16 and 31, respectively.
During the meeting, DA councillor Sebenzile Rafani questioned why the metro was asking the MBDA to get involved when it already had a service provider for the city’s summer season events.
Acting executive director Veliswa Gwintsa said the municipality’s summer season contract remained in place but only catered for the city’s traditional festive season programme.
She said the contract could not accommodate additional events the municipality wanted to stage in December because of procurement limitations and the city’s efforts to comply with Treasury Circular 131.
Gwintsa said the MBDA was being considered as an interim implementation mechanism to deliver additional summer events while the municipality completed a new tender process.
She said there was insufficient time to appoint a new service provider before the festive season, adding that officials were trying to ensure the city could still deliver an expanded programme without falling foul of procurement regulations.
Director Kithi Ngesi said the municipality’s existing summer season contract only covered four traditional festive season events — the Opening of the Season, a Happy Valley event, a Wells Estate event and a New Year’s celebration at Hobie Beach.
ANC councillor Mpumelelo Majola urged the municipality to ensure the new procurement process did not exclude established flagship events that had proven economic value for the metro.
He singled out the Ebubeleni Music Festival and the Uitenhage Picnic, saying the events generated significant economic activity and exposure for Nelson Mandela Bay.
“We have events that we have accepted as flagships of this city.
“I’ll be specific. I don’t have any interest in them. I don’t even attend those events.
“But the Ebubeleni [festival] and Uitenhage Picnic contribute to the GDP and bring a lot of mileage.
“So that’s why I wanted to be specific. Are you looking at those types of events?
“We are looking for people that are going to benefit the city, like your Uitenhage Picnic, like your northern areas event, which are very specific.
“So I’m saying this because you can write a specification that takes them all out. That’s possible.”
Majola then asked if the R3m budgeted for was enough.
Ngesi said the amount was not enough, adding that the directorate would approach the city manager for additional funds.
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